For Her, Always
by TheLegendofBatman
Summary: Destined to live by the Princess, Link takes on the role of Lord Guardian, staunch bodyguard and protector of the Princess. But Princess Zelda doesn't see the need for someone like Link. Can Link find the patience he needs to stay by her side and protect her from any danger she may encounter, physically and emotionally?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Link stood patiently on the steps of the Altar of Stones. Whole crowds were gathering in front of the temple for the event that was to take place that day. Already, the inside of the temple was full, with the front rows being reserved for nobles and dignitaries, and the rest of the rows for the people of Hyrule. It seemed no one wanted to miss this historic event in Hylianu history.

Link was dressed in some royal armor that he had been gifted specifically for this event. It must have cost quite the price; the pauldrons he wore on his shoulders and arms were gold plated, as were his boots. His body plate had gold on it, as well as a beautiful sapphire near his neck. The fabric that extended to his thighs was a deep royal red. His head was framed with a golden ornament, and from it a cap of a similar red color as his tunic extended. His left hand rested on a ceremonial sword, and his right hand hung at his side. Truly, the royal family was very generous.

Link sighed to himself, and glanced over to his right side, where _she_ would be in a few moments. It seemed just yesterday he was a soldier in the Grand Army of Hyrule. Now, his dreams were finally coming true. Suddenly, the door to the inner sanctum of the temple flew open, and out came the Sage, Rauru. The Sage was an honorific title given to the head priest, one who had clearly shown his devotion to the Three. The chattering crowd slowly grew quieter as the Sage descended. He did it with such grace, that Link wondered whether or not he was really floating through the air.

The Sage stopped in the center of the Altar of Stones. Quickly and silently, he murmured a prayer and touched each of the sacred stones resting in the Altar; the Kokiri Emerald, the Goron Ruby, the Zora Sapphire. Each had played an important role in an ancient war, and each day people came to pray and touch these holy relics of the past. But today was not the day for somber remembrance.

Rauru glanced up and made brief eye contact with Link, giving a small, almost imperceptible smile, before simply staring at the front of the temple, where throngs of people still crowded. The man had raised Link and his sister, Aryll, when they were orphans, and he couldn't help but be proud of Link, and for his future with the Royal family.

For a few minutes, there was silence, as the audience waited in anticipation. Even Link could feel the butterflies wreaking havoc within his own stomach. Suddenly, the crowd outside of the temple parted, and horns were heard blowing their royal music, signaling the arrival of the King and…

 _The Princess Zelda!_ Link feverishly thought. _It's almost time._ The orchestra behind him broke into a slow song, and Link didn't need to turn around to know that the King was walking his daughter up the aisle towards Link. He kept his gazed fixed forwards, refusing to give in and look behind. Rauru kept smiling. Then, out of the corner of his eye, Link saw the Princess, in all her glory, standing next to him on his right side, staring straight ahead as well. She was in a beautiful dress of white and royal purple, with golden pauldrons adorning her shoulders and a tiara gracing her forehead. Her long brown hair was braided on two sides, and the rest flowed down her back. Her gloved hands were clasped, and rested near her navel.

On his left side, Link saw the massive body of the King move around him and the Altar, and stand beside Rauru. The King was dressed in a royal coat of red, with a white collar of fur around his neck. His coat contained intricate gold designs near the fringe that caught the light whenever it moved. His sword and crown were made of beautiful gold, and didn't seem to give the man any trouble at all. Link got the sense that he was a great warrior in his time, before letting himself go.

Silence. The King murmured a prayer to the Three, and touched each stone, similar to Rauru earlier. The Sage stood up and walked to the right side of the temple, allowing the King to stand unopposed behind the Altar, and now all eyes were upon the King. "People of Hyrule," he began in his booming voice. "The time has come for my daughter to make an important decision.

"As you are all aware, the Princess has reached an age where she must choose someone to stand by her side, to protect her, and be her staunch ally." At this point, he turned and smiled at the Princess. "I, not only as the King of Hyrule, but also as her father, do trust her judgement in this matter."

Link stared straight ahead, not daring to move an inch. The King turned to Rauru and beckoned. The Sage came forward and kneeled before the King. The King drew his ceremonial sword from the scabbard on his left side, and handed it horizontally to Rauru, who graciously held it on the palms of both of his hands. The Sage stood up, and the King now took his place on the right side of the temple. "Kneel, Link of Ordon" Rauru solemnly said. Link knelt.

"Do you, Link of Ordon" the Sage's voice boomed "promise to protect the Princess of Hyrule from all dangers, with your life?"

"I do" Link stated, with as much confidence as he could muster.

"And do you promise to remain at the Princess' side as a staunch ally, through fortune and evil?"

"I do"

"Can the Royal Kingdom of Hyrule count on your service, Link of Ordon?" Rauru thundered.

"It can."

Happy with these answers, Rauru made his way over to the Princess of Hyrule, who had turned to face him. Kneeling, he offered the sword to the Princess, who grasped the hilt of the beautiful rapier and turned to face Link.

"And do you, Link of Ordon" the Princess asked in her melodious voice, "trust me with your life?"

"I would follow you and your commands to my last, your highness," said Link solemnly.

The Princess raised her sword and brought it down upon Link's right shoulder, then his left, and then his head. "Then I hereby grant you the title of Lord Guardian: bodyguard, protector, and trustworthy companion of the Princess."

The crowd stood up and erupted in applause. The nobles were more civil, but most of the people of Hyrule were hollering and jumping for joy. Such an event was truly momentous. Link finally cracked a smile and exhaled; he'd been able to get through the ceremony without a single hitch. "Arise, Link of Ordon" a voice said. Link glanced up and saw the Princess smiling down at him, seemingly happy with how the people reacted as well. Link rose and turned to the people, left hand on the ceremonial sword at his side, and waving with his right. The people seemed to go even crazier at that.

"I'm proud of you, Link." Link turned and saw Rauru standing beside him. Not much for physical displays of affection, Rauru extended his arm, to which Link grasped. "I'm glad you could be here with me, Rauru," Link said. That made the Sage chuckle. "Of course, they can't have one of the most important ceremonies in Hylian history without the head Sage!" They both began to laugh, releasing the tension that had built up within them.

The King and his daughter had begun to move back to their carriage. Link made his way over to the Princess' side, where he would now remain permanently. People all around were crowding around them, trying to get a chance to touch the Royal Family of Hyrule and their new hero. The soldiers were doing a good job of keeping everyone in order however, and they soon made their way to the carriage. The King boarded first, with the Princess directly after him. Link shut the doors, and took his place next to the driver of the carriage. "Congrats, sir," the driver said as Link sat down next to him. Link, a bit shocked at his title, simply nodded his thanks to him. As the carriage made its way to Hyrule Castle, Link turned to the driver. "Y'know, Link is just fine with me."

The driver didn't say anything to that, just gave Link a strange look. Link shrugged and leaned back in his seat, yet remained alert all the same. Just because this was Day 0 of his new job didn't mean he could slack off. The journey back was peaceful however, and they arrived within a few minutes of leaving. Link jumped down, wincing as the heavy ceremonial armor made its presence known on his knees and shoulders, and opened the doors of the carriage. The Princess exited first and stormed out of the carriage, pushing past Link. He stared at her receding back, shocked. She seemed angry at something. Link turned back and saw the King exit as well, face red with fury, although he attempted to maintain his composure. Link turned to follow the Princess, as his new job dictated, but the King stopped him. "Lord Guardian" he said. "I wish to see you in the throne room as soon as you have changed and are in your daily attire."

Link saluted, and made his way to the castle. He strode confidently through the doors and made his way into the castle, before arriving at his room. As a candidate for the title of Lord Guardian, he had to memorize the entire layout of the Castle, and actually spent time within to better understand how daily life worked within the massive structure. His room, which was actually the residence of the previous Lord Guardian eighteen years ago, was in the same hall as the Princess' quarters, by the very nature of the job of course. Link strode in and quickly changed clothes into the customary green tunic, green cap, and chain mail of the Lord Guardian, before hurrying towards the throne room. He wondered what the King had planned for him.

* * *

 **A/N: So this is my first fan fiction. I've had this idea in my head for a while now, and I just found the time to try and put it to paper. I have no idea how long it's gonna be, but I am determined to finish this story, wherever my mind takes me. With that out of the way, reviews would be very helpful, if only to gauge whether or not people like how I write and/or the story. Thanks to everyone taking the time to read this!**

 **Also, there were a lot of people who inspired me to write this story. I've been lurking and reading a bunch of stuff, and really I just wanted to say thanks to the following authors, even if they never see, because they really inspired me to write:**

 **Lyxie**

 **light-will-endure**

 **CrazygurlMadness**

 **crownedcrusader**

 **Thanks again!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The doors to the Royal Throne room were barred shut, guarded by two Hylian guards. As they saw Link walking briskly towards them, they crossed their spears over the doors, and signaled him to wait as one of them knocked strongly on the door. The doors opened, and Link was permitted inside. Red carpet stretched the length of the hall, all the way to the end where the King sat. Behind him, a beautiful mural of the Three was depicted; Din, Nayru, and Farore. They were seen together creating the legendary Triforce. But Link didn't focus on that; he was more concerned with the woman sitting on the King's left. Princess Zelda did not look pleased at all.

Link kneeled in front of the King, putting his fist over his heart in the customary salute. "My King, you requested my presence?" he asked.

"Indeed, Lord Guardian. Rise, and let us speak."

Link slowly rose to his full height, and looked directly at King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule XV. The King had a perfect mask of diplomacy, showing no emotion whatsoever. Link glanced towards the Princess. His daughter was less composed, but she too hid much of her feelings.

"Lord Guardian" Link whipped his head back towards the King. "It seems that my _dearest_ daughter does not believe in your skills, despite you being the foremost candidate chosen from our most _esteemed_ military officials," the King voiced, making his displeasure with his daughter known. The Princess pursed her lips. "As you know, the ceremony is mainly for show, and a way to boost morale for the citizens of Hyrule" the King continued. "As such, it was important for us to choose a Guardian for Zelda as soon as she became of age. The people have not had much to look forward to recently, especially with the recent famine striking harder on the lower classes.

"However, my daughter and I have reached a compromise in this matter." Link continued to stare at the King, refusing to acknowledge the Princess so far. "Zelda will agree to keep you her Guardian if you can pass her… tests, as she said." The King frowned. "I do not approve of her actions; I believe you to be more than qualified. However, in this, she would not be swayed."

At this the Princess could not hold her silence. "I believe it was you who said in the ceremony that you trusted my judgement, Father," she refuted. The King said nothing. Zelda turned towards Link. "There are two tests you must pass to gain my approval," she stated.

"Firstly, I have a diplomatic meeting to attend with the Gerudos in two days' time, and I have decided that the meeting will be held near the square where Din's Festival is to be held. No doubt the Gerudos will be happy to see their patron goddess celebrated as such."

As she was speaking, Link's eyes widened. Din's Festival was a huge event, drawing thousands of people, and she wanted the meeting _there?_ It was a bodyguard's worst nightmare. Zelda saw, and smiled at Link's unease. "Yes, I realize that many people will be around us. I trust your skills will keep me unharmed, yes?"

Zelda continued without waiting for a response. "And secondly, I wish to… interrogate you." Link raised a questioning eyebrow. "Do not worry, it is nothing so severe as a military interrogation. I simply wish to know who you truly are beneath this façade of Lord Guardian." She narrowed her eyes. "If I find your character to be lacking, or treacherous, or if I have any reason to disapprove of you at all, you will be removed from your position." She gave a sweet smile after that. "Any questions?"

Link stood in silence for a moment, thinking. "With all due respect, I wish to be granted certain conditions for these tests," said Link. Zelda beckoned for him to continue. "For the first challenge, you must listen to my every instruction," Link stated. Zelda rose and spoke with indignation. "You wish to order the Princess of Hyrule around like some soldier in an ar- "

"As Lord Guardian, it is my duty to keep you unharmed," Link interrupted. "Though I cannot stop you from meeting with Gerudos in a crowded area, I can determine whether your immediate safety is at risk, and when we must evacuate." Link glared at the Princess. "Because of this, I request that, should I feel you are unsafe, you obey my every command until the threat has passed."

Zelda sat down, a bit miffed. She was used to only her Father disagreeing with her, and try as she might, she could not think of a counterargument against Link. "Very well," she grudgingly said. "I accept that condition."

Link let out a shaky breath. Halfway through. "Secondly, in this… interrogation… I wish to choose whether or not I want to answer the question."

Immediately Zelda began to shake her head. "Absolutely not. I would not be able to truly determine who you are otherwise."

Link begrudgingly agreed; he had hoped the Princess would grant him this condition so he could avoid answering questions about his past life, but that seemed inevitable. "Very well, your Highness" he saluted.

The King let out an annoyed huff. "Yes, well, now that THAT unpleasantness has been resolved, let us all sit down to lunch. I am starved."

Link moved to the side as the Princess and the King got up from their thrones. He followed them to the dining hall, a huge room that could easily seat one hundred others with its huge dining table. The King sat at the head of the table, with his daughter at his right. Link attempted to conceal himself in the shadows of the curtains that adorned the giant glass windows of the hall. His job as Lord Guardian was to remain unseen until needed after all.

The food was brought out, and servants began to tend to the King and Princess. Link stayed back; he'd planned on eating later, and it didn't seem proper to eat with the Royal Family in his position. He busied himself with profiling the servants attending Zelda first and foremost; which may be concealing a weapon, which may poison her food, bodyguard things.

"You are Sir Link?" Link turned to see a young man about his height addressing him. The man wore quite nice clothes, had glasses on, and carried several books underneath his arm. Presently he seemed determined not to meet Link's eyes, and busied himself cleaning his glasses. Link nodded in the affirmative.

"Just Link is fine. You are…?"

The man put on his glasses and finally met Link's eye. They were a deep blue, brimming with knowledge. "I am Shad. I am to be your assistant."

Shad saw Link's confusion written on his face, so he hurriedly elaborated. "That is to say, whatever business you need to attend to, whether it be gathering troops for a trip the Princess has planned, needing blueprints for a building, receiving the Princess' schedule ahead of time, needing new weapons, re-"

Link cut the man off from his rambling. "I get it, you assist me in business matters." Shad seemed rather abashed at his ramblings. "Yes sir- I mean Link- er…"

"Link is fine, Shad."

Shad simply nodded in the affirmative, a hesitant smile playing on his face. He adjusted his glasses. "Well, Link, do you have need of my assistance at the moment?"

Link nodded. "Actually, I do Shad." He began to list off his needs. "Firstly I require blueprints for the place where the Princess is to meet with the Gerudos in two days' time. I also require two lists of all A-class soldiers, one list for female soldiers, and the other for male soldiers. Lastly, each day I will require the Princess' schedule delivered to me, before she wakes up and prepares of course." Link turned back to look at Shad and saw him scribbling furiously in a notebook, writing down all of Link's commands. "And what time do you request the Princess' schedule?" Shad inquired.

"Leave her schedule today; I will manage without it. If possible, I would like her schedule for the next day on the night before, after the Princess has retired if possible."

Shad began to chew on his pencil, a habit he seemed to have developed. "That may not be possible every day, Link, but on days where it is, I shall send someone to deliver her schedule to you."

Link nodded, pleased. "Then, when it's not possible, just have someone deliver it to me around five in the morning; I'll be up at that time in front of the Princess' room." Shad nodded, and turned to leave.

"Hold on," Link said, remembering something. "If something needs to change, where can I find you?"

Shad turned around. "Oh, I often remain in the library. My office is in there, and I enjoy spending my spare time researching different topics of interest." He turned and waved good bye as he walked out the dining hall.

Link smiled to himself, and turned his attention back to the Royals, who, it seemed, had just finished their hor d'oeuvres. Shad seemed like a good person, and a good friend once the man lost his awkwardness around Link.

"Lord Guardian!" a voiced boomed from the table. Link moved from the shadows and stood next to the King, who was waving him over. He seemed in a much better mood than in the throne room.

"Yes your Majesty?" Link inquired.

"Please, have a seat, dine with us! Every Guardian beforehand has granted us their presence!"

Link raised an eyebrow in surprise, but listened to the King's request all the same. No one had shared this fact with him, that the Royal Family held the Guardians in such high regard. He unbuckled his sword from his side, but leaving it within arms' reach he took a seat on the King's left, directly across from the Princess. She seemed incredibly interested in the pattern of the table cloth. The tension in the air was so thick one could slice it clean through with a cleaver.

The King attempted conversation as the main course was being brought out. "So, Lord Guardian, Rauru was your father, was he? An admirable man, and a good friend of mine."

"Yes, your Majesty, but he wasn't my birth father. He was kind enough to take in me and my sister when we were orphans though."

The King nodded. Silence reigned as the food was being served. Link attempted to break the tension. "Um… your Majesty, no offense, but you can just call me Link. If it please you, sir!" Link let out a shaky breath and fought to not facepalm himself at this very moment; that was so awkward!

The King glanced at him with a strange look on his face, then burst out laughing. "HAH! The man of the hour doesn't want the title! Hah HAH!"

"N-No, it's nothing like that at all sir! It's just-"

"Hah, I'm only messing with you boy. You prefer to go by Link? Well then, no sirs and majesties around me when we're talking in private either! Just Daphnes will do just fine. Heh." He chuckled and extended his right arm for a handshake.

Link was quite shocked at how easily the King jumped from formality to conversation, but he too began to chuckle as well afterwards. "Heh, Daphnes it is then!" he said, and firmly shook the King's hand. It was like a grip of iron.

The conversation was broken as they all began to eat. Link prepared to dive right in; Cucco over rice. Link smiled maliciously; anything with Cucco in it was a good meal to him. But, he WAS in the presence of Royalty.

Link glanced up and saw Zelda eating her meal; daintily, eating in small bites and chewing it all slowly before taking another bite. Similarly, the King ate slowly, although he seemed to want to savor every bite he ate. Link clumsily began to eat as well; he resolved to educate himself immediately on proper table manners later.

Lunch was uneventful. The King soon rose afterwards and declared he was taking a long nap; it was Saturday, after all. The Princess looked at his receding back disapprovingly; she apparently did not like her Father's carefree manner in running this country. Link thought it was rather hilarious, though he was quick to hide his feelings. Zelda rose, and Link followed suit.

* * *

The rest of the day passed by in a haze of boredom, standing in her office and watching her sign papers, check one or two royal officials who were bringing even more paperwork, counting the number of tiles on the floor of Zelda's study multiple times (1000 exactly, interestingly), and generally trying to fulfill the role of Lord Guardian to the best of his ability.

It was late when Zelda decided she was done for the day, about eleven at night. Link escorted her back to her room, and decided to switch the guards out with a new rotation; he wanted to make sure the soldiers were truly awake. As he stood outside and leaned against the wall, waiting for the new soldiers to come take his place, he saw Zelda was still standing outside her room, staring at him.

Link didn't say a word, just stared back, waiting for her to break the silence. He didn't mind the silence itself, though he found that others try to break a perceived awkwardness in the air by speaking. Plus, there must be a reason Zelda was not retiring just yet. Her reason, so she had to say something first.

"… I hope lunch was enjoyable for you, Sir Link."

"It was. Thank you, your Highness."

"It is a pity that I had to take dinner within my study. You didn't receive anything, did you, Sir Link?"

"I instructed the servants not to bring me anything your Highness. Eating with one hand makes it difficult to hold a sword and shield should a danger arise."

Zelda raised an eyebrow. "You take your job that seriously, Sir Link?"

Link nodded. "This is the greatest honor I have been given, and I intend to surpass the duties placed upon my shoulders."

Zelda stared at him. "But that is not why you have taken this role, is it Sir Link? You must have another motive as well, not just a desire to protect the Princess?"

Link didn't answer. "Didn't know we were having my interrogation right now, Highness." Immediately Link winced; that sounded much worse out loud.

Zelda turned and opened her door in annoyance. "Wait," said Link. She turned back. Link struggled to say something. "I didn't mean it like that, your Highness. That was rude of me, and I apologize. It's been a long day for the both of us." He exhaled heavily; that sounded good.

Zelda softened her gaze. "Indeed it has, Sir Link." She turned to enter, but heard Link say something. She glanced back. "Beg your pardon?"

"I said: just Link is fine, your Highness."

She turned around completely. Link thought she seemed to be struggling with what to say. After what seemed like an eternity of standing, she nodded and smiled to him before shutting her door.

It took several more minutes for the soldiers to arrive, and once they did, Link told them to wake him up when their shift changed, in seven hours. He hurried to his room, changed into his pajamas, inhaled a few sandwiches he had kept stored for dinner, and flopped onto his bed. His royal armor was still strewn on the floor, but he didn't have the will to pick it up. He simply fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

 **A/N: First off, thanks for the reviews on my first story.**

 **a. marsh55- Thanks, I hope it develops into a good story as well!**

 **Guest 1- Thanks for the congrats, and I hope you continue to enjoy!**

 **Guest 2- Thanks for the words of encouragement!**

 **Seriously, the reviews mean a lot to me, really give me motivation. I'm so excited people are actually reading this! Puts the pressure on tho haha.**

 **This chapter was _really_ plot heavy, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to establish the setting and the conflict that will happen later on. I hope my writing is enjoyable to read, because otherwise these things can get really boring. Hopefully next chapter we can see how Link deals with Zelda's meeting with the Gerudos. **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Sir! Sir!"

A sharp knocking woke Link from his deep slumber. "At ease soldier, I'm awake," he said sleepily.

"Sir! They told me to give you her Highness' schedule right now!"

Link groaned and moved towards the door. He opened it just a crack and stuck his hand out. "Thank you. Now go get some sleep."

The soldier promptly handed Link the schedule, and quickly turned around and hurried towards his quarters in the hopes of some peaceful shut-eye. Link closed the door and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He gave a quick glance over Zelda's schedule; breakfast, then a meeting with some governors he had never heard of, followed by lunch, and surprisingly the rest of the time was… free. It seemed that Sunday was not a busy workday for her highness.

Link placed the schedule on his dresser, which stood next to his bed, and quickly gathered a clean version of his uniform, stepping nimbly around the clothes he threw onto the floor yesterday. He didn't mind a dirty room, so long as he knew where everything was. It wasn't like people would be visiting him very often anyways.

Link hung his clothes on the hook inside his bathroom and stepped into the shower. Instantly, warm water flowed onto his body. Link didn't know what kind of magic or matter of physics brought warm water to the top of his tower and then back down, and he didn't care: as long as it could wake him up, it could remain a mystery.

After his brisk shower, Link promptly threw on his clothes, grabbed his sword, and hurried downstairs to the kitchen, where the staff was getting ready to prepare the King and the Princess' breakfast. Quickly, he scarfed down some scrambled eggs, sausage, and toast from the chef, and washed it all down with some cool LonLon milk. Finished, he went back upstairs to the Princess' hallway.

The two soldiers on duty snapped to attention as he came towards them. Link turned and faced them. "Men, I'm reassigning you to the dining hall. Tell them the Lord Guardian sent you. I'll take over here."

The soldiers saluted. "SIR YE-" they began to bark, before Link swiftly covered both of their mouths. "Quiet!" he hissed. "The Princess still rests." He remained in that position, ears straining to hear if the Princess within the room heard. Nothing. He slowly removed his hands.

The soldiers, quite abashed now, saluted again. "Sir yes sir," they whispered, before heading down towards the dining hall. Link sighed, and leaned against the wall. He estimated the time to be about 6:45, well before the Princess was to be woken at 8:00. He glanced down towards the hall, eyes bouncing between the walls, taking in the sights it had to offer, which quickly diminished after five minutes of staring.

He glanced the other way, where the only thing of note was a huge tapestry of the Triforce at the end of the hall, and the door to his room. There was something hanging on his door, however. He hurried towards his room, took the sheet of paper off, and hurried back to stand guard at the Princess' door again. Glancing down, he noticed the paper was signed _Shad._

 _Link_ it read. _This is the list of soldiers you requested yesterday. All A-class soldiers, alphabetical order, in two lists: male and female. You know where to find me if you have need of something else._ Hastily scrawled at the bottom was Shad's signature.

Link flipped it over, and saw the list Shad referenced. One column had a list of about twenty men, and the other had a list of about five women. _Only five A-class women soldiers?_ Link grimaced; he was counting on more he could use for Din's Festival on Monday. He resolved to go meet the head of the army trainees when he had the chance. He could make this work, however.

Link quickly memorized the names, and folded the paper away into one of his many pockets. It must be 7:00 by now; light was beginning to shine in through the many glass windows in the hall. A servant was hurrying by, failing to see Link, who had molded into the shadows out of habit. She seemed to be heading straight for his room.

 _Why would she be heading to my room?_ Link wondered. She knocked on the door. Link stepped out of the shadows of the curtains, next to the Princess' door. "Can I help you?" he asked the servant.

She turned around, apparently surprised that she had initially missed Link. "Oh! My apologies, Lord Guardian. I was sent here to wake you."

Link raised his eyebrow. "Wake me?"

"Yes, your Lordship. The previous Guardians have been customarily woken at this time."

Link nodded, a bit surprised at how lenient the other Guardians seemed to be about their line of work. "Well, that will no longer be necessary. I instruct the soldiers on when to wake me."

She curtsied. "As you wish, your Lordship." She turned to move past him and back to her other duties.

"I have a couple of requests of you, if it's not too much trouble however," said Link, holding a hand out to stop her.

"Yes, your Lordship?"

"Firstly, I need you to tell Shad in the library to come to me in the dining hall when his Majesty is eating breakfast. Tell him to bring the papers I need as well.

"Secondly, I require a book from the royal library. Something that can teach me about manners, yet small enough for me to carry around. Shad will probably know a book like that, just tell him."

The servant nodded. Link, satisfied, allowed her to go, and took his place against the wall of the Princess' room again. And waited. And waited.

Presently, a group of servants came along, headed straight for her Highness' room. Link held out a hand. "You are…?"

They curtsied, and begun to talk among themselves rapidly. One of them, a very red headed girl with blue eyes, stepped out from the group and began to speak with Link. "We're her Highness' servants. We wake her up and get her ready for the day."

Link quickly looked at all six of their faces, memorizing what they looked like. "For today, I will double check with the Princess to make sure everything you say is true." He knocked on the door sharply and loudly. "YOUR HIGHNESS!" All the ladies winced at that.

"Her Highness doesn't like being woken up like that…"

"Oh, this is not good… for you at least…"

"Looks like Lord Guardian is going to learn his lesson the hard way…"

The girls began to giggle among themselves. Link glanced back in confusion: had he done something wrong?

His question was answered when a deafening yell was heard within the room "WHY WOULD YOU WAKE ME SO RUDELY MALON?"

All the color drained from Link's face. The maids could hardly cover up their laughs at his reaction. "S-Some people are h-here, they say they come to wake you every morning, so I just wanted to m-make su-"

"JUST LET THEM IN ALREADY!"

Link didn't need to be told twice, swiftly stepping out of the way and allowing the girls entry. As the door closed behind them he could just hear Zelda say to her maids, "… man is insufferable…"

Link cringed internally. His first day on the job was going splendidly already.

* * *

How much time passed as Zelda was being attended to, Link didn't know. All he knew was that the walk from her room to the dining hall was silent and incredibly awkward. The Princess did not seem happy with him. At all.

Breakfast was a quiet affair as well. The King – _Daphnes_ , Link mentally reminded himself – invited Link to eat with them. He was quite surprised when he found out Link had already eaten, and had woken up at such an early time as well.

"Boy, you can't wear yourself out working too hard. Take it easy, it's only your first day!" he said between mouthfuls of food.

Link didn't really know how to respond; should he agree to be more lenient in protecting the King's daughter? "Well, uh, _Daphnes,_ my job is to protect your daughter, and I'll do it as best as I can."

The King snorted. "My daughter isn't going to be in danger in Hyrule Castle, of all places! I know you take your job seriously, but there's no need for such vigilance here!"

Link hesitated. The King's words were logical, but it didn't sit right with Link not to stand next to the Princess at every possible moment, guarding against any threats. "…I'll think about it," said Link, smiling.

The King laughed. "Well, perhaps after Zelda has her _interrogation,_ you'll lighten up. Maybe that's why you're so uptight."

Link winced. Now was not a good time to provoke the Princess, and bringing him in seemed to drag Link deeper through the mud. Zelda turned to her father. "I will have you know I-"

Just then Link noticed Shad enter the room. Quietly, he extricated himself from the growing argument, and made his way over to Shad. "G'morning" murmured the scholar, holding what appeared to be a flask of cold coffee. "I have the... whatever it is you wanted."

Link struggled to keep a straight face as Shad handed him the blueprints and the book on manners. It seemed Shad was an afternoon person, if his morning attitude was anything to judge by.

Link glanced at the blueprints. The Festival seemed to be held in Castle Square. There was a stage set up behind the fountain, and the buildings were meant to have stalls selling their wares in front. The meeting place seemed to be on a balcony directly across the stage and fountain. They had a very clear view of the performers from there, but Link groaned to himself internally. So many angles, so many avenues of disaster.

Link turned back to Shad. "Who handles the logistics of the Princess' events?" he inquired.

Shad took a sip from his flask. "Well, a lot of people do, but just tell me what you want and I'll take care of all the menial work."

Link took out the letter that had hung on his door and began to point to it, beckoning Shad closer. "I want all the females on this list to be assigned to the same place as the meeting area. The rest of the soldiers are to be placed on every balcony on every building surrounding the meeting place, one per balcony.

"Since we'll have soldiers left over, the rest of the A-Class are to patrol the immediate area around the meeting place, keeping watch and dealing with potential threats. Tell that to their commanding officer, will you?"

Shad had pulled out his notebook and was writing down the instructions Link gave him. "Hmm, I think this can be done easily. Anything else?"

"Nope." Link handed back the blueprints and the letter to Shad. "Thank you for the book by the way, and on such short notice too."

Shad waved away his thanks. "I had a feeling you'd want something like that. Every other Guardian has been of noble birth, but you're the first they let in with nothing to his name. It's logical you'd want to learn to be more royal. I'll see you around." He waved goodbye as he jogged back towards his office.

Link returned to the table, where the argument was apparently winding down. "Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today! HAH!" the King roared. Zelda shot daggers at Link. "Yes, I suppose I did, Father." Quickly she stood up, and Link moved to follow her, head down in shame.

* * *

The meeting was boring. Nothing of note was said, nothing of note was down. Zelda seemed frustrated herself that none of the governors could bring themselves to agree on anything. Finally the meeting was adjourned, with the Princess requiring that the members come back next week already agreeing on ONE matter that they discussed today, "or else we may need to find successors," she sweetly voiced to them.

Lunch was quieter than yesterday. It seemed the King did not have it as enjoyable as the Princess, as he did not turn up for lunch at all. Link was afraid Zelda was still angry at him, and so chose to eat lunch standing up, leaning against the wall far behind Zelda's chair. Finally, Link followed Zelda to her study, where she intended to work, even on her free day.

They were both surprised, however, when they found not one, but TWO desks in her study. One had considerably less paperwork and was set to the side of the room, directly besides the doorway. As Zelda sat at her desk, Link went to the other desk and saw a note covered in familiar handwriting.

 _Link, this desk is your workplace. Yup, even the Lord Guardian has to deal with paperwork. I told them to move it here, I know you like to stay close to the Princess at all times. –Shad._

Link glanced up and met Zelda's curious stare. "I'm supposed to use this desk for… paperwork" he said incredulously to her. She smirked. "Even _you?_ Surely not Lo-… Link" her voice hitched; Link had forgotten he told her to call him by his name. He was about to reply when she suddenly turned and said "Forgive me, but I would much rather get some fresh air." Link hurriedly followed.

They entered the Royal Gardens, directly in the center of the castle. Link stayed a respectable distance from the Princess; it seemed this was one of her only places where she could relax easily. He turned his thoughts to what happened in her study. _So, the Princess DOES have a witty side to her._ He smiled to himself. She was definitely not as stuck up as he had thought her to be. Although, it did seem like she was always hesitating around him…

A gasp of pain broke him from his thoughts, and he rushed towards Zelda, where she was nursing a cut finger. A pair of shears was strewn on the cobble path. "Zel- Princess, are you alright?" Link asked. _That was close_ he thought to himself. _I almost forgot my place._

Zelda waved him away. "Yes, yes, it is just this troublesome rose, it cut me."

Link put a hand in one of his many pockets and removed a small white fabric. He grabbed Zelda's hand – gently, of course – and wrapped the cloth around her middle and index finger, where it easily stopped the tiny flow of blood. After he was done, Zelda quickly removed her hand from his.

"Thank you," she said coolly, and quickly turned her face away.

Link didn't say anything. He had grabbed the shears and snipped the rose. Then, as efficiently as possible, he got rid of the thorns around the base of the rose, and handed it back to Zelda.

"Careful, it's still sharp around the top," he said. Zelda turned and saw Link holding out the rose to her, which she hesitantly took. "Thank you," she said, blushing furiously. Link tilted his head to the side, confused on why she seemed so flustered, before the full realization of what he actually did hit him.

"No, wait wait! Not like that, I just thought that you'd like the flower that you were trying to cut!" Nope, still sounded romantic. "I- well, that is to say, I thought because you put in all this work and all you got was a cut on your finger that you'd actually want the flower and not let your efforts go wast-"

Link's flustered rambling was cut off by a beautiful peal of sounds. He turned and saw Zelda laughing, holding a hand to her mouth. He blushed even harder than before, and resigned himself to the embarrassment.

"It is fine, Link." Zelda smiled at him. "It was really kind of you to treat my wound and… give me my flower." At that, Zelda began to giggle again.

Link glanced up and smiled. "Well, I'm glad you find something funny in my embarrassment, Zel-… er, that is, your Highness."

Silence fell between them. Zelda continued walking through the gardens, a troubled look on her face, with Link following. Presently she came to a dead end, with a small waterfall emptying itself in a creek, and a bench resting right in the middle of the beautiful area. She sat down, and Link had no choice but to stay where he was; there was no room behind her with the waterfall and the creek. Zelda stared intently at Link, who stared at the ground instead of meeting her eyes. Suddenly, he raised his head, and she began to speak.

"I just wanted to say-"

"It is alright for you to-"

They both stopped talking. "You first," they said simultaneously. "Please, your Highness, it's your right to go first" said Link.

She inhaled, before saying, "Link, please, when it's just us two, I don't mind you calling me by my name. No formalities." She exhaled deeply.

Link again was taken by surprise. She too possessed the great ability to switch from formal talk to casual conversation, just like her father. He smiled, "Fair enough, Zelda. Does that mean I can speak my mind around you?"

She smiled. "That is fine with me." She seemed relieved that Link respected how hard that was for her.

"And what about my… um… interrogation later?"

She laughed. "Well, maybe it won't be necessary after all."

They both shared a laugh at that. A comfortable silence grew between them, before Zelda broke it. "What were you going to say to me?"

Link jolted. "Oh right! I forgot" he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Um… sorry for the rude awakening this morning, heh."

Zelda grimaced. "Yes, well, just let them in next time. For what it's worth, I'm sorry you had to see me like that."

"… but you didn't say you're not sorry you yelled at me."

"That's because I'm not," Zelda pouted.

Link laughed, and Zelda joined him. She rose quickly however, eyes widening in surprise and hands covering her mouth. "I have to work!" she exclaimed, and hurried back to her study with Link laughing even harder behind her.

They returned, and Zelda immediately began to get to work. Link glanced over his desk and the stack of paper work that rested on it. He sighed and began to sign away at all the orders he had given Shad in the morning; apparently they required "official" certification.

* * *

It was around 9:00 p.m. when Zelda decided she had had enough, and moved to retire. She still held the rose that Link had given-but-not-because-he-loved-her-like-that, although her cut had long since healed. As they bade good bye, Link saw Zelda place the rose in a glass jar filled with other flowers.

Link gave instructions for the soldiers to wake him up at 5 a.m. sharp, and entered his room. He was surprised to find everything clean. Apparently someone had come in and tidied his room for him. Link took off his clothing, but placed it on the edge of his bed; he didn't want their jobs to be needlessly harder than they should have been. Turning, he found a sheet of paper on his dresser. It was the Princess' schedule tomorrow. It seemed that she would have breakfast here, then move to the Festival at 11 o' clock. The meeting was at 12. The rest of the day seemed to be at the Princess' leisure. Link hoped she didn't want to spend too much time in the crowds; it would make his job even more of a headache.

He put on his pajamas and collapsed in bed, but sleep didn't come to him quickly. His mind still wandered to that moment in the gardens, and he couldn't stop replaying it. What a fool he had made himself to be! Still, Zelda had grown friendlier with him, so it wasn't all bad, but he wanted to get to know her even better. As sleep eventually dragged him down, he could still hear Zelda's melodious laugh.

* * *

 **A/N: Well. excuse my tardiness, but life sometimes hits like a truck haha. I probably won't have a schedule you all can follow, unfortunately, I just try to write whenever I have time. Thanks for your patience!**

 **Next, thank you to everyone who followed and favorited, it really means a lot that my first story is gaining traction like this!**

 **Finally, thank you to all the reviewers, you guys really motivate me to keep writing! From the top:**

 **-Guest: Thanks!**

 **-Batch03: Thanks man!**

 **-Awakening5: Thank you! Yeah, I try to build the world because it's not from any single Zelda game, and I really appreciate that you don't think my characters are boring to read!**

 **-RenegadeReviewer: Thank you! I hope I can keep the quality going. And yeah, the King is always portrayed as some kind of person out of touch with the world, which I kind of wanted to break here.**

 **-KDRDEADMAN: Thanks man! Keeping my fingers crossed for consistent quality haha**

 **-minutmaidman: Thanks! Yeah, my Zelda in the beginning is kind of a drama queen, but really on the inside she's super nice. But don't think the drama ends with this chapter, just because she's friendly with Link now doesn't mean he can't slip up**

 **-The Hylian Chronicler: Hey, thanks! I'll keep it coming for as long as I can!**

 **Big thank you to everyone again. If the reviews keep coming at this rate I don't know if I'll be able to reply to them all, but just know that I really appreciate your feedback and support! 'Till next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Dawn found Link leaning against Zelda's doorway, waiting for her maids to come and wake her. He was nervous; this would, after all, be his first assignment, and the Festival provided multiple opportunities for assassins to strike. He went through the blueprints again; the placement of the soldiers, his escape routes, back up plans, the works.

Presently, Malon and her troupe arrived, and set to work on making the Princess presentable. After some time, she exited the room. She smiled to Link. "Good morning, Link."

"Good morning Princ- er, Zelda." Link rubbed the back of his neck; old habits die hard it seemed.

They began to walk down the hallway towards the dining room. "Is it really so hard to drop formalities around me, Link?" questioned Zelda as they walked.

Link sighed. "I'm just in shock, really. First, his Majesty wants me to call him by his _first name,_ and next the Princess wants me to do the same!" Link chuckled to himself. "Is the Royal Family really that informal around people of lower rank?"

Zelda frowned. "Well, not usually. I never knew the previous Guardian, but apparently Father treated him like a close family friend."

"Is that right… I expected to remain a silent guardian, not someone on a first-name basis with every member of the Royal Family."

Zelda smirked. "Well, quite frankly, I intended to keep you an arms distance away from me, but Father told me to try and act friendly with you. He said I needed someone to confide in regularly, since I'm to take over soon."

"Your maids don't count?"

Zelda waved that suggestion away. "Oh, they're good friends, but they can't keep their mouths shut. I could never tell them anything of importance."

"Well, I'm glad you've opened up so quickly to me then, Zelda."

They had arrived. "Do not think you are off the hook yet, Lord Guardian," Zelda said mischievously. "Your interrogation, after all, is scheduled for tomorrow."

Link smiled, and opened the door for her. The King was already seated and eating away. "Well, you already look to be in a far better mood today, my daughter!" he laughed.

"Yes, well, it seems I woke up correctly today, Father."

"And I hope you took my advice to heart as well, Zelda," the king said solemnly.

Zelda took her seat, and Link his. "Yes, Father, Link and I are getting along quite nicely."

The King turned towards Link. "Is this true, Link?"

Link nodded. "In fact, we were just discussing how previous Guardians were treated by the Royal Family. I heard my predecessor was a good friend of yours."

At that the King nodded, seemingly in deep remembrance. "Ah, yes, I remember Alfonzo fondly. He died, unfortunately, in the same carriage accident that killed your mother, Zelda…"

Silence fell. Link mentally berated himself on bringing up a sensitive topic like that. He opened his mouth to change the subject, but the King continued. "I suppose… the reason I wanted you to address me informally, Link, is because I miss him… He may have been sworn to guard my wife, but he and I got along very well indeed."

The King turned towards Link, smiling. "I wish to better understand you as well, Link. Not only as Lord Guardian, but as a good friend."

"…Well, if the King orders it, how can any citizen refuse, eh Daphnes?" asked Link.

The King laughed, a great booming noise that echoed throughout the hall. "HAH! I'm glad you humor an old man like me!"

Breakfast passed pleasantly. The King had to dismiss himself early; he too had to prepare for the Festival, though he would not formally address the people until the third and final day. "Why is it that the King only gives a speech at the end of the festival?" Link asked Zelda as they ate.

She glanced up. "Well, Din is the goddess of power. Symbolically, the Festival shows the people that they are truly in power, because royalty on that day takes a back seat. The King only addresses them at the ending of the Festival, to remind people that he serves only as a leader, as a way to express the will of the people."

Link nodded, sinking into thought. A comfortable silence pervaded the room. There was still a good two hours until Zelda had to depart for the Festival, but Link still fretted over the details.

"Why did you want to be Lord Guardian?"

Link was shaken out of his thoughts by Zelda's voice. He glanced up in surprise; she had quill and parchment out and seemed poised to take some notes. She smiled at him. "We have some time before we depart, so let's just get this out of the way."

Link raised an eyebrow. "Do we have to have the interrogation now? I'm busy trying to think of back-up plans in case the worse happens."

Zelda looked at him incredulously. "Link, for goddesses' sake, it's just a Festival, and I'm meeting with some diplomats. Nothing is going to happen!"

"You don't know that!" Link retorted. "Especially with the reported uprisings in Gerudo territory. What if some rebel infiltrates your discussion!"

Zelda rolled her eyes. "Well, good thing you prepared ahead of time. Now, the question please."

Link sighed, resigning himself to his fate. His plan for the return of Ganon would have to wait. "Truth be told, Zelda, I chose to be Lord Guardian because of the benefits."

He raised his hands to ward off Zelda's outrage. "Wait, wait! Hear me out, ok." She sat back, miffed, and began to scribble furiously.

Link continued, "You probably already know that Rauru adopted me and my sister, right?" Zelda nodded. "Well, being Sage gave Rauru the ability to support all three of us, but just barely. So, I enlisted in the military as soon as I was able so I could pitch in with my soldier wage. It was a bit better after that.

"I won't trouble you with the tortures of soldier life, how rough and terrible it was. All that was going through my mind was how my sister wouldn't have to take some kind of job at seven, as long as I could keep pitching in. I… It would be terrible, having her work as some sort of maid or scullery at her age.

"Rauru is getting older. He was already old when he adopted us, and I don't know how long the goddesses will grant him. All I want is, when that terrible time does come and he moves on to the Sacred Realm, or wherever the dead go, Aryll doesn't have to live a life of hardship.

"If I stayed a soldier, there was no way I could support both her and me on the same job. So, I pushed myself, rising above everyone around me, and gave it my all to get to this position. With my position, I can give Aryll a better education than me, a place to live, and a better life.

Link glanced up and met Zelda's stare. She had stopped writing. "She'll be the only family I'll have left soon. Don't get me wrong, everything I promised to you in the ceremony is true. I'd gladly give my life for you or Hyrule, if that time comes. I know the Royal Family treats the families of deceased Guardians extremely well.

"But everything I do is for her."

Zelda placed her quill down and stared at the floor, finding it difficult to meet Link's intense gaze. "And here I sat" she began shakily, "angry that you didn't take on this role because you wanted to better your country."

"…I'm sorry, Zelda, if my answer offended you. I didn't take on this job because I wanted to defend the crown. If you want to find a new Guar-"

Zelda waved away Link's apology. "No, I'd prefer not to. I appreciate honesty better than some sense of duty. Plus," she smiled, glancing up again, "you're the best of the best. I've never even heard of someone as young as you being considered for this position."

Link grinned, a bit embarrassed by Zelda's praise. The tips of his ears became hot. "Yeah, well… let's hope my skills are more than enough for today."

Zelda placed her quill down. "I think… we can put aside my interrogation now, Link. It's clear to me now how kind, honest, and determined you are." She smiled at him.

Link let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Well, I'm glad. Now I can return to planning a back-up plan if Ganon returns."

Zelda snorted. "That ancient legend? I somehow doubt he'll ever return, least of all on a day of celebration."

"Ah," said Link, wagging his finger, "but that's exactly what they want you to think!"

Zelda looked at Link incredulously. "They who, exactly?"

"The… uh, the evil people."

Zelda began to laugh. Link rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Alright! It probably won't ever happen, but you can't say it will DEFINITELY not happen! I shou-"

Zelda just began to laugh even harder at Link's feeble reasons for his worries.

* * *

It was finally time for them to depart. Zelda sat inside the carriage as Link sat beside the driver, eyes peeled for any danger. Din's Festival was already in full swing, with the carriage passing by crowds of people, stalls of merchants, food vendors, and the stage, which was busy preparing for "a feat of amazing skill," if the sign advertising it was to be believed.

They arrived at the meeting place without incident. It was a fancy restaurant that was known for their amazingly spicy Gerudo food. Link looked up and saw the troops he had assigned had already taken their stations on other balconies. Good. One less problem to worry about.

He jumped down and opened the carriage for Zelda. She stepped out regally, the epitome of royalty. Link began to usher her inside, but she ignored him. Instead, she turned towards the people who had gathered to watch and waved. The crowd began to applaud, and rushed forward in the hopes of touching their Princess. Link's eyes quickly roamed the crowd for any sign of danger, and he moved swiftly to Zelda's side as she began to shake hands and kept back any overly zealous citizens. Finally, Zelda stopped greeting the people and turned to make her way inside the building. Link signaled with his hands, and immediately the guards who had been escorting them kept the mass of people in order and at bay.

"Next time, Princess, give me at least a five second heads-up that you want to greet the people," said Link, reverting to a more formal speaking style that was more fitting for company.

"I am sorry, Lord Guardian. I cannot resist greeting my people," stated Zelda. "But I have great faith in your abilities."

Link sighed, and escorted Zelda upstairs to the balcony where the meeting would be held. There was a good half hour until the Gerudos were to show up. In front of the doors that opened to the balcony, five female soldiers stood. They jumped to attention as Link and the Princess approached. "Princess! Sir!" they barked. "You wished to see us?" Link nodded, and ordered two of the soldiers to stand guard on the balcony until he could take their places.

He turned to the remaining three. "The Princess has a meeting with a group of Gerudo dignitaries today," he stated. "When they arrive, I want you to search them for any weapons, or anything that could harm her highness. Until then, and afterwards, I'm assigning you five to guard duty."

They saluted, and Link, after making sure they knew what to do, ordered the two soldiers guarding Zelda to get instructions from their fellow soldiers. Now it was just he and Zelda on the balcony. His gaze kept moving side to side, wary of any threats. Already the Festival was in full swing, with singers on the stage performing, people running around below them, people buying things, and people having fun.

"Why female soldiers?"

Link turned towards Zelda, who was sipping some water as she waited. "I just thought the Gerudo would be more comfortable around five female guards and one male Guardian, rather than six males," he replied. _No need to mention them being searched_ he thought to himself.

Zelda nodded, sinking into thought. "A matriarchal society… for the most part. Did you know all Gerudo babies are female? Apparently a male is only born once every one hundred years, and is destined to become their leader for however long he lives."

Link nodded. "Believe me, I've given up trying to figure out how their civilization flourishes with only females being born."

Zelda began to laugh. "Well, they have been known to be quite… seductive, and alluring to men from around the world." She turned towards Link, who was still resolutely scanning the environment around him. "I hope you won't be distracted from you duty, Link," she said mischievously.

"They would be hard pressed to do that," said Link emphatically, although he began to blush at Zelda's implication.

Zelda gasped in mock shock. "Are your ears turning _red?_ Maybe it's true then!"

Link only blushed harder, but just as he was about to retort his eyes noticed a bright head of blond hair buying food from a stall next to the stage. Link squinted to get a better look. _Is that…?_ Suddenly the man in front of her turned around holding two ice cream cones, and handed one to the girl. All doubts vanished from Link's head.

 _That's Rauru and Aryll! I haven't seen her in ages…_ Link thought, his heart filling with sadness. What he would give to go over to her and give her a hug. Link shook his head; he couldn't afford to be distracted, today of all days.

"..ink? Link!" someone was talking to him.

He turned towards Zelda. "Sorry Princess, I thought I saw… someone. You were saying?"

She frowned, and pointed in the direction behind him. "The Gerudo are arriving, Link."

He turned around and saw an ornate, yet small, carriage being brought towards the restaurant by four dark horses. Zelda stood up. "I will go and greet them," she said to Link. He nodded, and escorted her downstairs.

They stopped at the base of the stairs, along with the five female guards. Link beckoned for two of them to hold the doors for the dignitaries stepping down from the carriage. They were dressed in the highest Gerudo fashion as well; that is, scantily clad and jewelry anywhere they could fit. "Please stay here, your Highness," said Link, and moved to intercept the nobles.

Link held out a hand to stop the advancing Gerudos. "Greetings," he said. "I am the Lord Guardian, sworn protector of her Highness. I ask that you please submit yourself to being searched before entering her presence."

The two women glanced at each other, before one stepped forward and began to speak. "I am Nabooru, and my partner is Aveil." She had a slight accent. "We are Gerudo diplomats. Why would you search us?"

"It is only for her Highness' protection," restated Link.

"But we are of no danger to her," Aveil spoke up angrily. "You have no right to search us!"

"Peace, Aveil," said Nabooru. She turned to Link. "We will not be searched by a man like _you,_ " she said coldly to Link.

Link simply smiled. "Fortunately, these soldiers here," he extended an arm, and two of the female soldiers stepped forward, "will be searching you, in the rooms to your left and right for privacy. I trust this is fair to you?"

The two diplomats thought silently, before Nabooru spoke up again. "This, I can agree to do. Aveil?"

The other diplomat sighed, and nodded her head. "I suppose it is to be expected, with the recent dangers in our territory."

"If it makes any difference," said Link as they were being led to separate rooms, "I would have searched anyone who wished to meet with her Highness, regardless of their country."

Link turned back to the Princess and stood by her side. "The Gerudo have been one of Hyrule's stalwart allies for ages, Link!" she whispered angrily to him as they waited. "What were you thinking, searching them?!"

"It's as I said; protection."

"Protection from what, exactly?!"

"They may be assassins in disguise, waiting for an opportunity to jump and take out the sole heir to the throne. Or perhaps they really are diplomats, who have become so disgruntled with Hyrule as to attempt an assassination. That is why they are being searched, you Highness," whispered Link severely. "It's my job to _protect_ you, no matter what."

"But I kn-"

Zelda seemed to want to continue, but just then the soldiers opened the doors and the dignitaries exited. One of the soldiers came to Link. "Sir! Nothing found."

"Excellent. Return to your duties." The soldier saluted, and ordered the other soldiers to return to guard duty.

Link bowed slightly to the Gerudos. "My sincere apology for this inconvenience, but everything seems to be in order. You will not be troubled by me again today." He bowed again, and moved aside, allowing Zelda to greet them.

"Nabooru! It has been too long," said Zelda, embracing the Gerudo.

"Yes, Zelda, it has been far too long. We were but children last time we talked," said Nabooru. She glanced at Link. "And I see security has been upgraded as well."

"And Aveil! How did they convince you to practice diplomacy?" asked Zelda, deliberately ignoring the uncomfortable subject.

"Well, the Queen can be very persuasive when she wants to be, Zelda," said Aveil, embracing Zelda.

"How is the Queen?" asked Zelda, as they moved upstairs.

"Mother is well, Zelda. She will probably give the next male a good fight for the throne too," Nabooru chuckled.

Link blanched. Of course they were Gerudo princesses; no wonder Zelda didn't want them searched. And she seemed to have history with them as well, talking like they were childhood friends. _What a deep hole I dig for myself in the line of duty_ Link thought ruefully.

Link opened the door to the balcony for the three royals. The singers on the stage had stepped off, and they seemed to be setting up some complex contraption for the next event. As the ladies seated themselves, Link stood in the corner, leaning against the railing with his arms crossed and eyes wandering the Festival.

"Ah, what a beautiful place to meet! It has the best view too," exclaimed Nabooru.

"I remember this place… they had excellent kebabs," reminisced Aveil.

The girls began to talk animatedly among themselves. Link took note of the guards on the surrounding rooftops; all were present, and none seemed to be in distress as well. He returned to watching the crowd, and the stage. It seemed that the goal was for an archer to shoot an arrow through flaming hoops, lighting the arrow on fire and strike an apple on another person's head at the other end. Why the arrow had to be on fire, Link had no idea. Probably because Din was usually associated with fire. Already an announcer was encouraging folks to gather around for the exotic feat of skill, and the two Gerudo participants were getting ready.

"… but with the recent attacks…"

"Hyrule is becoming more and more worried…"

"…aid needed at all, please…"

Bits and pieces of the conversation floated towards Link, but it didn't concern him at all. _Let the Princess handle all the politics_ thought Link, _I'd rather handle Ganon himself than wade through that mess._

"BIG BROTHER!"

Link was jerked out of his thoughts by the sound. He turned towards the royals; they were too involved in their conversation to notice much else. He slowly glanced down towards the ground, where he saw Aryll waving at him, her face all painted and a grin on her face.

Link couldn't help but smile; of course her keen eyes would spot him. He gave a wave, then glanced back towards the royals, who continued to talk. He looked at Aryll, and mimed a shushing motion with his finger and pointed towards the nobles. Aryll seemed to understand him. "Sorry," she mouthed, and waved goodbye to him as she ran through the throngs of people, probably on her way to Rauru to show him her new face.

Grinning, Link moved his gaze from the ground back to the stage, where the archer was pointing her bow right at the balcony he was on.

 _Wait_ he thought, before his eyes widened.

"YOUR HIGHNESS!" he yelled, rushing to block the path of the arrow as the archer let it slip. Zelda turned towards him, before her eyes widened in alarm.

 _SHWIP_

Zelda didn't move. Her face was stuck in shock. Somewhere someone in the audience screamed, and all hell broke loose.

Pain exploded on Link's back, immediately below his right shoulder. Grimacing, and trying his hardest not to cry aloud, he ripped the barbed arrow from his back, tearing off a good piece of flesh with it as well.

He saw Zelda staring at him, hand covering her mouth. Link whistled, a shrill sound that echoed throughout the panicking crowds; it seemed someone had also lit the stage and some surrounding stalls on fire. Immediately the female soldiers on guard duty ran to him.

"Take the Gerudos to their carriages and escort them to the palace POST-HASTE" he yelled through his pain. Saluting, the soldiers quickly grabbed the two nobles and ran downstairs. Link grabbed Zelda and ran down with them.

The Gerudo carriage was out front, and there was only enough room inside the carriage for two. Link grimaced; as much as he wanted Zelda to sit in that carriage, it wasn't his to commandeer. The Princess' carriage was nowhere to be seen; it was to pick them up at the end of the meeting. Link cursed himself for his thoughtlessness; of course the carriage wouldn't wait for them. The evacuation routes would have to be taken on foot then.

"Zelda, get in this carriage!" yelled Aveil, even though there was clearly no way Zelda could fit inside that narrow compartment.

"GO!" Link yelled to the guards. "I'll protect the Princess!"

The carriage pushed its way past the throngs of running people as Aveil and Nabooru looked on helplessly. Link unsheathed his sword and moved towards the back of the restaurant, where the stables were. Thankfully, someone had left a saddled horse there.

Quickly, Link helped Zelda onto the horse before clambering behind her. She hadn't said a word yet, and looked on the verge of some kind of panic attack. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey," he said gently. She jumped, apparently startled, and looked at him. "I need your head on your shoulders right now. It'll be alright.

"I'll protect you."

Zelda exhaled shakily, before nodding resolutely.

"YAH!" Link yelled, and urged the horse into a dead gallop. He maneuvered around people, toppled carts and stalls, and… bodies of soldiers and citizens?

There was no doubt about it; people were dying here. But a lone assassin, maybe two, couldn't kill the guards, especially since they exposed themselves by firing at the Princess first. In the distance, Link could see Commander Russell mustering his troops, fighting what seemed to be…

 _Gerudo rebels? In Hyrule?_ Link thought incredulously. But there was no question; among the bodies of soldiers were females who bore the crest of the Gerudo rebels. Link shook his head; thinking could come later. Right now, the Princess was in direct harm, and he had to get her to Hyrule Castle.

"Link! TURN AROUND!" Zelda screamed. "The people need our help!"

"Commander Russell will help the people! My job is to get you out of here!" Link yelled above the noise.

"Link, your _sister_ could be there! Do you have no heart?!" she pleaded.

At that, Link almost turned around. It was true; Aryll could very well be among the dead, or the dying. He hesitated. Then, hardening his heart, he pushed forward, cold logic dictating his every move. "Aryll may be dead, but I don't know that right now, and if she is, there's nothing I can do for her. All that's certain is you're in danger, and I will protect you."

"Your sister is in DANGER!" she yelled with anger.

"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT? BUT WASTING TIME MOVING ALL OVER CASTLE TOWN WON'T HELP ANYONE!" Link roared to her.

He burst out of town and continued to press the horse forward. There wasn't much left to go now, just a wide, hilly area, before they would arrive at the walls. Yet, he could make out three people blocking his path, wearing the signature black garbs of the rebels. They were armed with bows, and Link slowed his horse down; he couldn't block all three of them and survive, and he couldn't outmaneuver them on this farm horse.

One of them stepped forwards. "Surrender the Princess, and we will allow you to live," she declared.

Link stepped down from his horse. He glanced on all sides; there were no other dangers in sight on this plain, and no one had followed them from Castle Town. "Stay down," he whispered to Zelda "and don't watch." The horse would be able to provide some protection should the archers decide to let the arrows fly. He moved towards the women, flourishing his sword.

"I'll give you ladies a deal; All three of you, versus me. Beat me, and you get the Princess," said Link. He hoped that famous Gerudo pride would let them take the bait.

It worked. They began to advance, pulling out daggers from their sheaths. Link looked at them all carefully. "You die in five swings," he said to them coldly.

They hesitated for a second at that, before advancing cautiously again. They were splitting up, trying to surround him. Suddenly, the one in front of Link made to bring her dagger down on him.

 _Shick_

Her head fell on the ground, the life draining from her eyes. Link had moved fast, faster than any of them had anticipated, striking when the dagger was above her head. He pressed his advantage, moving towards the one closer to Zelda.

 _Clang!_ His sword met both of her daggers, and she was straining to push him back. Any sign of the old Link was gone; instead, his eyes shone like a wolf protecting its pack, determined to wipe out every last thing endangering it. Keeping his full weight on his right arm, he pulled his left arm back and punched her in the chest, weakening her resistance, before slicing her legs, making her fall to the ground.

Quickly, Link moved his sword behind him and blocked one of the incoming swings from the last assassin, before back-flipping over her and slicing her down her back, and then stabbing her through the heart.

As the assassin fell to the ground, stunned at Link's ferocity and strength, Link moved towards the last rebel, who was busy trying to crawl away from him. She looked at him fearfully, and threw her dagger at Link, who deflected it with ease. "Pick a goddess and pray," he said without remorse, before swiftly ending her life.

He flicked his sword to clear it of any blood, shaking with anger and relief. Anger that the rebels had orchestrated an attack, relief that the Princess was no longer in immediate danger. Speaking of the Princess, he turned towards the horse, where he saw her looking at him in horror.

"I thought I told you not to watch," he growled, sheathing his sword.

"You just… you just… killed that woman!" Zelda shrieked.

"She tried to do the same thing to me!"

"She was defenseless!" said Zelda shrilly, her voice rising every second.

"She was a danger, and now she is eliminated," said Link bluntly, refusing to show any empathy for these assassins.

"Is that all she was?! She was _A PERSON!"_ Zelda continued to scream at him.

Link moved to get on the horse, but stopped when he saw Zelda flinch at his raised arm. That hurt. "Zelda, please, I won't hurt you…" he said pleadingly.

"You're a monster."

That hit home. "I… I did what I thought was necessary in order to protect you, your Highness," he said, reverting to a formal tone. "She could have thrown another dagger as we went back to the Castle and killed you, or sh-"

"I do not want to hear anymore. Take me to the Castle now, Lord Guardian."

Hurt, Link clambered onto the back of the horse, making sure to keep a respectable distance between him and Zelda. As he did, the pain in his shoulder flared to life, making him hiss in pain. Zelda let out a sound, before resolutely keeping her mouth shut, and her gaze fixed ahead. Silently, they made their way back to the castle as fast as possible.

* * *

 **A/N: Alright, sorry for my long absence again, but hopefully you'll like this long chapter. Thanks again to all the followers and favorites out there, really means a lot!**

 **Now, on to the reviews!**

 **DarkGlass01: Hey, thanks for that! Also, I really appreciate your criticism. Yeah, I can see how the attitude is really inconsistent. I'm not a big fan of going back and changing chapters, making the readers re-read it all, so I thought I could flesh out their relationships better in this chapter! It's definitely not perfect, but it'll be something I keep expanding upon as we go forward!**

 **KDRDEADMAN: Ooooooh man, next chapter, I think Link is in for some deeeeeep doodoo.**

 **RenegadeReviewer: Yeah, I'm having some personal difficulties writing jealousy and stuff like being cold to others, because I as a person am really laid back and forgiving. So it just kind of comes naturally for me to write Zelda as someone who warms to people easily lol. But hopefully with this (slightly more serious faux pas in this chapter) I can actually create some bad juju between Link and Zelda.**

 **AnriMia24: Hey, thanks!**

 **Awakening5: Thanks man!**

 **Thank you to all the reviewers who review more than once, and those who review for the first time as well! Again, it really motivates me.**

 **This next chapter might be a while before it comes out because I am getting super busy in life, plus Breath of the Wild is right around the corner. So make sure you follow if you're really interested, because I have no clue when this next chapter is going to come out. But I WILL FINISH THE STORY, NO MATTER WHAT!**

 **Thanks again!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: There's been some confusion on why Link sometimes calls Zelda "Zelda" and sometimes "Princess" or some other formal title. At this point of the story, Link calls her Zelda when there are few/no people around them, and it's just the royal family. If there's people around him, or a chance of people hearing him that aren't connected to the royal family, then he calls her something formal, to maintain propriety in public. Basically Zelda=Private and Princess=Public. If there are any inconsistencies in this, it's usually because I didn't catch them when I was proofreading. With that out of the way, lets begin!**

Chapter 5

Link pushed the horse to its limits in his rush to get to Hyrule Castle. The pain in his shoulder, though sharp initially, had begun to die down into a dull, persistent thud. Aside from that, Link was unharmed.

Zelda, on the other hand, was not faring well at all. Soon after his fight, she seemed to lose all sense of balance, and Link had had to move closer to her to ensure she would not fall off the horse. Her skin was cold to the touch, and she was breathing quite fast, as if she had run a marathon. She was trembling like crazy. He had seen this once or twice in some of the weaker recruits when he was training as a soldier.

 _Shock_ Link thought with alarm. Zelda's body was shutting down from the traumatic events. He needed to get Zelda to the infirmary as soon as possible.

He blindly rummaged through the lone saddle bag on the horse, looking for some kind of blanket or thick fabric to warm Zelda. Link grimaced. _Nothing._ The only thing he could do was press her closer to him, trying to keep some of the heat from escaping her.

As the castle came into view, Link could see soldiers guarding the drawbridge, which was raised shut. They too noticed him, and braced their spears against the ground in case of an attempt to charge through. Link drew closer.

"HALT!" a soldier of rank shouted to him. "Identify yourself!" Suddenly, the soldier noticed the passenger huddling close to Link. "Her highness…?" he whispered to himself. Taking another look at the approaching person, he suddenly recognized the new Lord Guardian's uniform, and stood to attention.

"OPEN THE GATES!" Link shouted to them, and the soldier signaled to his companions to comply with the order. The drawbridge began a slow descent.

Link brought his horse to a standstill. "I need some kind of blanket or coat that provides warmth, NOW!" he ordered to a soldier on standby. The soldier saluted, and rushed inside the gatehouse. Link turned to the other soldiers. "Gerudo rebels attacked Castle Town. They cannot be intimidated. If you see them, use extreme caution!" he yelled. "SIR!" they barked back. Just as the drawbridge had fully lowered the soldier re-emerged and handed him a thick wooly blanket.

Link grunted a hurried thanks before spurring his horse onwards towards the infirmary. He wrapped the blanket around Zelda as tight as one could on a moving horse, and prayed he could make it in time before she suffered anything too serious.

The infirmary was open, and Link could see many soldiers being tended to, far too many for usual castle accidents and sicknesses. _The rebels must have attacked Hyrule Castle's walls as well_ he thought to himself. Link pushed his thoughts aside; right now, he needed to find a healer.

Link leapt off his horse, and began to carry Zelda through the busy infirmary, his arms underneath her head and legs. It didn't take long for him to find an assistant and explain the situation. They quickly showed him the Princess' personal room in the infirmary, before running to find a healer to treat her. Link propped her up on the bed, placing her back against the bedstead. Her shaking had at least stopped, and it seemed her breathing had slowed as well, but Link had no way of knowing for sure.

Link's hand involuntarily curled into a fist. He wanted nothing more to comfort Zelda, but the look she had given him after the battle was fearful and angry. He doubted he could do much at this moment.

He began to pace back and forth. _Where is that healer?!_ he thought impatiently to himself. He had half a mind to go /out and drag him into the room. No sooner did the thought cross his mind when the door opened, and a woman dressed in light blue with green hair ran into the room. Immediately, she rushed to Zelda's side.

"What happened to her Hig-"

"She's going into shock," Link interrupted. "In fact, she was already showing signs when I rushed her over here. She may already-"

The lady shook her head hurriedly. "No, she's fine," she said, cutting Link off. The woman smiled, and grasped both of Zelda's hands, rubbing small circles on them with her thumb. "Zelda," she began in a soft voice, "you know me, right?"

Zelda looked up into her green eyes. After a while, she whispered "S-Seres…" Zelda's eyes seemed to regain some lost light.

"Very good, Zelda," Seres exclaimed softly. She sat next to Zelda and put an arm around her, drawing her close. "You're safe here, with us," Seres murmured, rubbing Zelda's shoulder. Zelda leaned into her. "Deep breaths now, Zelda," Seres continued. Zelda complied, inhaling deeply before exhaling shakily.

After a few minutes, Seres turned towards Zelda, who seemed to have regained some of her former self. "Do you want to talk about… whatever happened?"

At that, Zelda made eye contact with Link. Link froze; he could still see her fear of him, and her shock at what he did reflected within her sapphire gaze. Slowly, she shook her head, and began to softly weep into Seres' shoulder.

Seres looked up at Link, not missing Zelda's glance. He knew his presence was what prevented Zelda from speaking, and Seres seemed to have the same idea as well. He quickly left the room.

As he shut the door behind him, his shoulder flared to life again, making him wince. It seemed, in his worry, he had completely forgotten it was injured. _Well, Zelda is in safe hands…_ Link thought to himself. Nevertheless, before he went to get his shoulder treated, he called two soldiers from the front to stand guard outside of Zelda's room. An attack within the castle itself was highly unlikely, but it was in Link's nature to be cautious.

* * *

Some time later, as his wound was being dressed and treated, Seres stepped out of Zelda's room, and seeing him, made her way towards Link. Before she had a chance to speak, Link blurted out, "Is she alright?"

Seres simply nodded. "She's sleeping as we speak, milord." Sighing in relief, Link began to put on his tunic and uniform again.

"She told me everything. The attack, how you took that arrow, how you… saved her from those assassins."

Link winced, but continued dressing himself. "My saving her is what really caused her shock, I think," he murmured. "But I didn't believe I had a choice. Her Highness was in danger."

Seres remained silent for a few seconds. "I think that, deep down, Zelda recognizes you were in a difficult situation… I don't think she blames you."

Link glanced up at her, fixing his tunic. "Every time she looked at me, she looked so afraid. How can she NOT blame me? To her, I may as well be a monster."

Seres shook her head. "No, I don't believe so. Zelda was never one to hold an irrational grudge."

Link scoffed. "From the very beginning, she was opposed to me becoming Lord Guardian."

"An, knowing her, she must have warmed to you quickly," Seres countered.

Link paused, and glanced up at Seres. "You speak very familiarly about the Princess, and yet in my short time next to her I have never once met you."

Seres smiled. "Zelda and I are quite close, actually. Before her duties as Princess, and mine as healer, we used to talk and play amongst ourselves for ages." She looked wistful. "Nowadays, we hardly have enough time for ourselves." Then, gaze hardening, she turned towards Link again. "Zelda doesn't hold grudges; but she's vehemently opposed to anyone trying to impose something on her. I imagine that is why she reacted so harshly to your appointment."

Link stood up, and began putting on his scabbard. "Well, you are right. The Royal Family has been very kind to me, the Princess included, not long after my appointment." Link sighed. "But now, I fear I may not even be able to perform my duties if her Highness cringes in fear every time she lays eyes on me."

Seres shook her head again. "Give her a few hours, let her gather her thoughts. Then, you'll find her different."

Just then, Link heard a commotion outside the infirmary. Turning, he saw the King rush inside, and every able body kneeling in respect as he passed. Link, as Lord Guardian, turned and gave the customary salute, with his right fist over his heart. The King didn't even need to tell Link why he arrived; Link knew he wanted his daughter. Link lead the way, and they soon arrived at Zelda's door, where the soldiers still kept vigilant watch.

When they saw the King, the soldiers kneeled in respect. The King barely gave them a passing glance; he flung the door open and rushed inside. Seres followed after him, presumably to give him the news. As the door shut, Link dismissed the soldiers, and stood guard outside the door. Feet spread, sword tip resting downwards, and hands on the hilt, he stood.

* * *

It seemed Link stood guard for ages outside, resolutely looking for any threats. Presently, Seres opened the door. "They wanted to speak with you, Lord Guardian."

Link slowly turned, preparing himself mentally for whatever awaited inside. Zelda must want his title of Lord Guardian stripped from his name after what happened.

Link stepped inside the room, sheathing his sword as he did so. Zelda was sitting on the bed, visibly in much better spirits and health than before. Beside her sat the King, who looked exhausted, but relieved that his daughter had recovered. The King stood to greet Link, while Zelda continued to sit, staring at the floor.

"My boy…" the King began, before pulling Link into a bone crushing hug. "Thanks to you, my daughter is alive and well. I thank you, Link." Releasing a shocked Link, the King then patted him on the shoulder. "I shudder to think what may have happened without your skill."

Link, shocked, could hardly mumble a coherent "thank you." The King continued, "Zelda has told me everything. You saved her from the rebels, and you brought her here as soon as you saw… well, bad memories do not need to be retraced." The King coughed, seemingly uncomfortable bringing up Zelda going into shock. "Even more shocking, your injury did not stop you at all. I truly cannot thank you enough."

By then, Link had regained some semblance of thought, and he saluted the King. "It was my duty, your Majesty. I would go through far worse to ensure her Highness' safety."

The King nodded, satisfied with his answer. He turned to his daughter. "Zelda, forgive me, but there is much to do now. I must meet with Nabooru and Aveil quickly, and request to see their Queen. This new situation does not bode well for either of us."

Zelda slowly nodded. "I understand, Father," she whispered. They embraced a final time, before the King exited the room, quickly becoming surrounded by his personal guard, who had arrived earlier. Seres followed soon after, leaving Link and Zelda alone.

Silence pervaded the room, so thick Link swore he could cut through it with his sword. The seconds stretched out into minutes. Still, not a word was spoken, though Zelda's hands were clasped tightly together and were shaking slightly. Link sighed; though he did not mind silence, this one was best cleared up before any more harm came.

"I… am sorry, your Highness."

She looked up to meet his gaze. "…For what?" she whispered.

Link sighed again. It was difficult to put what he was thinking into words. "I am sorry that… through my attempts at protecting your life, you were put into even more harm…" _Exhale, Inhale_ thought Link. "I'm sorry that, because of my actions, you fear me. If you wish, I will resign fro-"

"I don't fear you, Link," the Princess interrupted.

Link stopped abruptly, and stared at Zelda. She continued. "I… recognize that you had to make a difficult decision at the time. I was behaving irrationally, and… yes, I suppose I was afraid of that side of you, Link, when it came out.

"But, after I arrived here, and spoke to Seres and my Father, and truly realizing what you went through to protect me…" she let out a shuddery breath. "I realize you would never hurt me, Link

"Yet, I do not agree at all with you abandoning Castle Town and its citizens to save me," said Zelda, some fire creeping into her voice. "Such actions do not sit well with me at all. Is that clear, Link?"

Link simply stood in place. That was a rollercoaster of emotion, and he needed to digest it all. On one hand, it seemed the Princess had forgiven him, and understood why he did certain things. On the other hand, she seemed to be condemning him because of some other action. Well, at least she was calling him by name, not by "Lord Guardian" like before.

"Princess… No, Zelda, if I may." He glanced up, and saw Zelda nodding. He gathered his courage, and pressed onwards. "Zelda, I am glad you find it in your heart to forgive me for my actions against those rebels. However…" Link paused, unsure about how this would be received, but continued anyways. "However, as to my decision to leave Castle Town in Commander Russell's hands, I would do it again if it meant saving you." He glanced up again, and was unsurprised to find Zelda's lips pursed in disapproval. "I may be leaving citizens of Hyrule to die, but as painful as that may be, you are my duty. You hold this kingdom together, and I will protect you, no matter the cost. Plus," he continued, "I have complete faith in Commander Russell. A lone warrior like me would not have made much difference in that chaos."

Zelda let out a long sigh. "I cannot in good conscience abandon my citizens, Link."

"And I cannot in good conscience allow the Princess of Hyrule to risk her life."

Silence again. They were at an impasse, one that seemed impossible to cross. Each person was unwilling to budge on their position, and each believed themselves to be in the right. Link decided to break the oppressive quiet.

"It is late, Zelda. This day has taken a toll on us all. Shall I escort you back to your room?" he extended his arm.

Hesitatingly, Zelda took it, and Link helped her up. She still seemed unsteady on her feet, but whether out of nausea or tiredness, Link could not tell. "Yes, let us go," she said.

Link opened the door and allowed her to go through first, before following. However, no sooner did Zelda step out when she suddenly grabbed the wall, greatly off balance. Link stepped towards her and, after making sure Zelda did not fall, hesitatingly held out his arm for her, as if leading her to a ballroom floor.

Zelda stared. Link, trying his hardest not to blush, said "it's either this, or I carry you the entire way to your room. You cannot walk properly in this state."

Smiling, Zelda looped her arm around Link's, and used her other arm to support herself as well. "Scoundrel. Exploiting a poor maiden in need to boost our own ego."

Link blushed harder at that, and stammered out "I-I would never do something as low as that! How you could even sugge-"

And suddenly he could hear that beautiful sound again. The peal of laughter being emitted from Zelda. At that, he too began to laugh, out of happiness, relief, all the emotions from the day leaving them in a fit of laughter, shared between two friends. Link's heart beat a rapid tattoo against his chest at their closeness, and he hoped she could not fell it.

* * *

They arrived at Zelda's room, though at that point Link doubted Zelda herself was even awake. She felt heavy on his arm, putting her entire weight on it, and it was all he could do to make sure she remained upright. He knocked on her door, hoping that her servants had waited for her.

Unfortunately, it seemed they had decided to retire for the night, apparently under the impression that her Highness was to spend the night in the infirmary. Link sighed, and shook Zelda slightly. "Zelda…?" he whispered. She mumbled an incoherent reply. Link groaned; there was no way she would be able to find her bed in this state, especially with her balance the way it was.

 _Nothing to lose now, I suppose_ Link thought to himself, and slowly pushed the door to Zelda's private room open. It was quite large, larger than his own room, and had another large area quite separate from the room as a bathing room as well. At the far end was a bed lined with drapes. Quickly, Link dragged Zelda over to the bed, and pulled back the covers. He removed Zelda's arms from his, and she sat down on the side of the bed for a moment, before lying down. Her eyes were shut, and Link would not be surprised if she was truly asleep. He pulled the covers over her prone form. _I hope she doesn't remember this_ Link thought worriedly. _She may kill me if she found out I was watching her sleep in her room, even if for a few seconds._

He turned to leave, but her face entranced him. In sleep, there were no worry lines, or pursed lips. In sleep, she truly looked at peace, and… serene. That's the word Link would use. She was beautiful.

Shaking his head, he hurried out of the room. _I better not be falling in love with the Princess of Hyrule_ he cursed to himself, _otherwise I'll have a real problem on my hands whenever she starts looking for suitors… Among other things, of course._

 _Yeah, getting involved personally with your charge as a bodyguard could spell disaster._

 _Or you might not be able to control yourself around those suitors, and get exiled from every known kingdom for your rash actions._

 _Or maybe she actually retur-_

Link viciously shook his head again as he closed the door. When you start having conversations with yourself in your head, you know you're tired.

Unfortunately, it seemed sleep was the last thing Link would get. Whichever imbecile that ran the castle guard seemed to have neglected to post soldiers in front of the Princess' room. Groaning, Link hurried to his room, found a clean uniform (one NOT stained with blood), took a quick shower to cleanse himself, and returned to Zelda's room. He slowly opened the door to make sure Zelda was still there, alive. Sure enough, she was sleeping peacefully. Nothing in sight, and most importantly, no assassins in sight.

Sighing, Link closed the door and sat down in front of it, laying his sword across his lap. It would be a long night ahead of him, but if it was to protect Zelda, he'd do it.

His mind drifted to the day, and he began to worry about Rauru and Aryll. Did they survive? Were they injured? Link had planned on sending a courier to the Temple of Time as soon as possible, but none had come to the infirmary, and he dared not leave the Princess. Tomorrow, however, he would ask Shad. Surely Shad had to know the status of the Sage. Perhaps, even the Sage's adopted daughter.

Link, the Lord Guardian, sat the entire night, protecting the Princess. Protecting Zelda.

* * *

 **Some of you may notice this chapter was uploaded twice. I fixed a few typos and made it so Seres left the room along with the King. Nothing major. Also wrote responses to more reviews below because this was opened, so why not?**

* * *

 **A/N: You may notice that Link called Zelda "Princess" even in private for a little bit. This is because Link thinks Zelda is angry with him, and so he deigns to use a more formal tone to distance himself and not offend Zelda.**

 **So what's up? BotW is lit, got addicted, then I had life, so this story definitely took a backseat, I wont lie. Also, I want to start another story alongside this one, but it wont be a Zelda one, it'll be a Fire Emblem one, and I'm going to try and multitask; we'll see how that goes. For now, on to the reviews!**

 **Oh yeah, thanks to everyone that favorited and followed even when this story wasn't getting regular updates, that was really cool.**

 **Awakening5: Hey, yeah I wanted them to conflict morally, and though you may think they resolved everything in this chapter, they didn't. Link just wanted to settle it another day.**

 **KDRDEADMAN: Oh yeah, TP is epic! Thanks for the positive feedback!**

 **reading turtle: Aryll working for the assassins? Nah, I could never do that to such a cute character! Also, thanks for the feedback, biggest thing is I realize that yeah, he does seem to be floundering in the water in terms of his duties, but that's just my writing, in reality, Link is very well trained to be Lord Guardian, a fact I will try to make more apparent as time goes on!**

 **minutmaidman: Yup I was gone from the world for a loooooong time because of BotW hype!**

 **Guest: Hey, thanks for that!**

 **BoyishGriphon: Thanks for that compliment. Update soon? ... Idk about that lol but I will try to update whenever I can haha**

 **Matt Cyr: Ha yes it was. Actually, it was at that point where I sat back and decided to write a FE story (coming soon!) because I needed a fix of epic one-liners and LoZ isn't really the place to saturate those with.**

 **KDRDEADMAN (X2): Thanks again man! I just read alot, so I take alot of cues from other authors. Enjoy your day too!**

 **AnonymousStalkerFriend: Thanks!**

 **TAAAAAAAACOOOO: Yeah, definitely plan to have this story finished, but I don't really know when... Thanks for the positivity!**

 **Thanks again, and I'll see you guys when I see you guys again!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Link sat, hours passing, resolutely carrying out his duty. He attempted to pass the time by reading the book of manners Shad had given him a while back, educating himself on royal practices like eating, speaking, and dancing. Surprisingly, some of the dances seemed like more refined versions of peasant dances that the townsfolk often danced, although there were some statelier waltz's in the book as well. It didn't take long for him to finish the miniscule book, but implementing it would be the real trick. So he sat until the morning came, reading and memorizing as much as he could, all while remaining vigilant.

Yet when morning did arrive, no soldier came when Link expected, and perhaps most shockingly, Malon and her group of maids did not come to wake her Highness up. Link estimated it to be around nine in the morning when he heard Zelda awaken within. He stood up, groaning slightly at his sore muscles stretching, and stood to attention in front of her door.

Not too long after, Zelda opened her door slightly and glanced around. "Link?" she asked, spying him standing in front of the door with his back facing her. "Where is everyone?"

Link smiled. "The castle must have been in great disarray after the attack yesterday. Either everyone took the day off, or more likely they still think you're in the infirmary and are just giving you more time to recover. They'll probably be here any moment now," Link theorized. "Good morning to you too, by the way."

"Oh…! Good morning to you as well, Link!"

"Strangely enough, I did not get your schedule for today, Zelda, so perhaps your Father has pulled some strings…" Link stifled a yawn before continuing. "He may just want you to relax today."

"What?! But I'm perfectly fine!" Even with his back turned, Link could see the indignation on Zelda's face.

Link laughed. "Well, we'll soon know the answer for sure." Link could see Malon coming down the hall towards him. "Ah, I believe Malon is here to get you ready for today, your Highness." Link stepped aside to allow them to pass.

"Princess! You're already awake…!" exclaimed Malon as she entered.

"Yes, so you will not have to go through the difficult process of waking me for today," said Zelda humorously.

"Difficult for the Lord Guardian, at least," Malon snickered as Link closed the door behind them. He could hear their laughter as they retreated further into the room. Shaking his head, but smiling all the same, he leaned against the wall and waited.

* * *

Finally, Zelda emerged, wearing a simple pink dress with a brown, belt-like sash across her waist, and a white shawl around her shoulders. Her sash ran through a square piece of fabric that hung on her left side, and had the seal of the Hyrule emblazoned on its front. She also seemed to be wearing riding boots.

Link raised his eyebrows slightly when he saw her. "Why so informal today, your Highness?"

Zelda shrugged and fiddled with the ends of her dress as they walked past servants on their way to the dining hall. "It seemed my Father ordered a dress like this for today… though I do not know why." She turned to Link, and studied his face. "You look… unwell today Lord Guardian. Did you get enough sleep?"

Link angled his face slightly so Zelda could not see the bags under his eyes. "I assure you, I am quite well today, your Highness. There's no need to worry about me."

"Hmm…" Zelda frowned, but let the matter drop as they arrived.

Link opened the door for her. As they walked in, Link was surprised to see the King sitting at the head of the table. Since Link and Zelda were so late to breakfast, Link assumed Daphnes would already be carrying out his kingly duties. Apparently, however, he had something he wanted to say to the two of them.

"Ah, Zelda, you're finally awake!" boomed the King. "And you look absolutely stunning! That dress looks quite beautiful on you, wouldn't you say, Link?"

Link froze for a moment, before sitting down besides the King. "I'm not sure there's a correct answer for that question," Link said wryly "One of you would kill me no matter what."

The King guffawed, and Zelda let out a small giggle as well. Some servants came out of the kitchen and began to fill their glasses as usual, but this time Link pulled one down towards him. "Stamina potion as well, please," he whispered quickly into the servant boy's ear, casting a glance at Zelda to see if she had noticed. She had not, occupied instead with the food being presented in front of her. It was becoming a bit more of a struggle to stay awake, and stamina potion would fortify Link's body longer than regular tea.

As soon as they were about to start, the King cleared his throat. "Zelda… Er, there's no easy way to say this, however…" The King seemed to be fishing for the right words. Zelda rested her head on her hand, staring at her Father suspiciously. "Yes, Father?"

The King stood, and clasped his hands behind his back. "I… have taken the liberty of emptying your workload for today and tomorrow. Now, now…" the King raised his hands defensively as Zelda opened her mouth in indignation. "I know, you are a grown woman who can take care of her own responsibilities and run this kingdom efficiently, as you so often tell me. However! You were quite unwell yesterday, and I believe after that incident these next few days should be yours to spend as you see fit."

"But Father!" Zelda protested, "that's too much work for just one person. You'll be inside all day! You have just as much of a right to enjoy this festival as I do!"

"Oh, I think you far overestimate how much work you truly have, and far underestimate my own time tested methods," the King smiled humorously. "Zelda, I'm not asking this as a King, but as a Father, who only wants to see his favorite daughter enjoy her life! The Festival only comes once a year, you know."

Zelda scoffed, but couldn't help a smile from overcoming her disapproving features. "Favorite daughter? I'm your _only_ daughter!" She stood up. "Oh, fine, but under one condition," she said, walking to her Father's side.

"You wouldn't be Zelda unless you made a deal, dear."

"One day, it will be _your_ turn to relax, and I'll take your work that day!"

The King laughed, and pulled his daughter into a smothering hug. "Oh fine, Zelda, fine!" They withdrew. "Now, I am FAR behind schedule today, so regretfully I will take my leave." He turned to Link, who had remained quiet through their talk. "And Link, I have heard from Rauru. He and your sister are quite safe, goddesses' be praised."

Link smiled in relief. He had tried to push that thought out of his head, but overnight he had grown more and more worried. To hear that his family was safe was truly heartening. "That is very good news indeed. Thank you."

Nodding, the King turned and left, leaving Link and Zelda alone in the hall to eat breakfast. Well, it was more of a brunch at this time of day, but all Link cared about was that food was being served. He and Zelda engaged in small talk as they ate.

"I was thinking we should head to the hospital and the Temple of Time today, Link, to visit the injured."

Link simply nodded. It was a noble gesture, and selfishly it would also give him time to visit Aryll and Rauru, if they were in the Temple that is. "Shall we head out when we finish eating? I can quickly arrange a carriage."

Zelda shook her head. "No, nothing as fancy as that. Why not just ride into town?"

Link paused, fork halfway to his mouth. "But you would be in greater danger riding on horseback. In a carriage, you'd be shielded from a lot of things."

Zelda huffed with impatience. "Link, I doubt anyone could even recognize me from a distance when I'm wearing this," she gestured to her outfit. "Furthermore, I wish to visit the citizens of Hyrule not as a monarch, but as one of them. Arriving by carriage would be too showy. No, we will go on horseback."

Link sighed, but grunted in agreement anyways. The Princess had her mind set on this, and it would be useless for Link to argue against her now. Their conversation was interrupted, however, by a servant entering and handing Link a bottle. Unfortunately, the bottle was glass, so Zelda could clearly see the liquid within. Her eyes widened in recognition.

"Stamina potion? Why on earth would you need stamina potion at this hour?!" she asked venomously, sensing something awry.

"Oh, I just didn't get much sleep last night," Link tried to wave it off. He downed the potion in one swig, but it seemed Zelda was not satisfied with that answer, for she continued.

"But you said you were fine _and_ had enough sleep last night when we were walking down."

Link winced. "Well, technically I did not answer your sleep question, Zelda. I simply said I was fine, which is true!" She narrowed her eyes.

"You have dark bags under your eyes Link," she said sternly. "Just how much sleep did you get last night?"

"Erm… six hours…" she continued to glare at him. "…Minus six hours."

"YOU DIDN'T SLEEP _AT ALL_ LAST NIGHT?!" she exploded. "WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU _DOING?!"_

Link flinched and held a hand up to his head; he felt a headache coming on. "Well, whoever assigned the troops last night neglected to send any to your room. So, as Lord Guardian, I stood guard the entire time. Well," he raised a finger, "technically I sat guard most of the time. There was no way I was going to stand that long."

Zelda fumed. "And you think you can still function without sleeping for over twenty four hours?!"

Link tapped the side of the empty glass. "Hence, the stamina potion. That will definitely keep me up."

"Do you have any idea what could happen if you use them too often?! The side effects can be dangerous!"

Link held up his hand. "Trust me, Zelda, I won't develop an addiction to this. It's just a one time thing for a bad day." He knew very well the addicts that frequented the shady bars in Hyrule's… less prestigious areas.

Zelda leaned back and put a hand to her head. "In Hylia's name… I should assign someone who watches over _you_ now. The famed Lord Guardian can't even take care of himself!" Link rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Just… Just promise not to do something moronic like this again," asked Zelda. "I'll even come with you to fetch guards if that will set your mind at ease."

"That would be very inconvenient for you."

She waved that objection away. "Oh, I doubt a five minute detour would even affect me very much."

Link sighed. "Fine! I'll try to actually sleep next time a situation like this comes up."

Zelda nodded, apparently satisfied. She stood, and Link followed. As they exited, Link whistled and beckoned with his hands. Immediately, the two guards on duty came to his side. He glanced around, but couldn't find Shad. No doubt he was busy, what with the whole attack yesterday. Link turned to the guards. "Please escort her Highness to the stables, and saddle her horse," he ordered, switching to the more formal style of speech appropriate for public.

Zelda looked at him in surprise as the guards saluted. "And where are you going, Lord Guardian?"

"I shall join you soon enough, but I must head to my quarters first. It won't take long."

Not waiting for a reply, Link excused himself and made his way towards his room. Since Zelda was going to be dressed in civilian clothes, he would not wear his Lord Guardian uniform. After all, there was no use drawing undue attention to themselves.

Entering his room, Link searched his closet until he found what he was looking for. Placing his green cap aside, he put on green pants and a beige shirt. On his midriff, he placed a piece of red fabric emblazoned with the symbol of Ordon, before wrapping a brown belt around his body and the fabric, keeping it in place. He placed his sword's scabbard on his back and swung the strap over his shoulder. Then, reaching into a chest at the foot of his bed, he withdrew a small sack of Rupees and a burlap bag. He put the Rupees in his pocket, and swung the bag so it lay on top of the sword. In no time, he looked like an ordinary citizen ready to enjoy the Festival, apart from the sword on his back. He hurried down to the stables, where he saw Zelda already sitting astride her horse. His own mare, Epona, was waiting next to her.

"Well now, you look just like any other eager boy ready to attend the Festival!" Zelda commented, glancing over Link as he mounted Epona.

"And _you_ look very happy to be leaving the Castle far behind today," Link retorted, laughing at Zelda's eager expression.

Zelda laughed as well. "I can't help it! It seems it's been ages since I last had time away from my duties. I suppose my father did have a point about me enjoying life…"

Link grinned, and nudged his horse forward. Together, he and Zelda made their way to Castle Town.

* * *

They arrived soon after, and Zelda headed straight for the Temple of Time. People on the streets walked and ran from stall to stall, buying and gazing at all the food, gifts, and other trinkets being sold on Din's Festival. It seemed the attack yesterday hadn't affected the hardy citizens of Hyrule, for the streets were crowded with people, though Link could see guards regularly dispersed between them. No one paid them any mind as they made their way forward; Zelda was nigh unrecognizable without her royal attire on her.

They arrived, and Link tied the horses to a stable nearby. He and Zelda made their way inside, where a dismal scene awaited them. Coffins lay near the back of the Temple with grieving family members around them, praying and coming to terms with their death. Rauru was with them, offering condolences and prayers for the deceased.

Suddenly, Link heard a gasp to his left. "Big Brother!"

He turned, and was promptly hit with a speedy ball of energy that clung to his leg. Smiling, he returned her embrace enthusiastically. "Hey Aryll, you little seagull!"

She released her deathgrip on Link's leg as he kneeled, giggling happily. "You ok after what happened yesterday?" Link asked. "I wish I could've come earlier, but my new job kept me away."

"Yeah, I'm fine Big Bro," Aryll replied solemnly. "But other people weren't with Rauru and me when the bad thing happened, so they have to stay here a little."

Link nodded, patting his sister's head in relief. In response, she extended her arms out, smiling mischievously to her brother. Sighing, Link placed his hands under his sister's arms and lifted her up. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Ugh, have you gotten bigger since the last time I saw you?" Link groaned, bracing his arms.

Aryll giggled. "Well, you've been gone for so long, to that Knight school and then the Castle to do your work, so I guess I did get stronger." She gestured to her arms proudly. "I help Daddy carry stuff sometimes too, when he lets me!" she said, laughing.

Link laughed with her. He hadn't talked to Aryll seemingly for ages, and he missed her dearly. _Rauru as well,_ he thought as he glanced around looking for him. Finally, he found him talking to a family on the far end of the Temple, right next to…

 _Oh Goddesses, I forgot about Zelda!_ Link jumped in shock, before hurrying over to her side.

"…have some injured, so you're welcome to go there, your Highness," said Rauru, replying to a question Zelda had had earlier.

"Please Rauru, just Zelda here. I don't want everyone knowing who I am today," she replied, glancing furtively around.

Rauru laughed, "Of course Zelda, of course."

"Apologies, Zelda, I completely forgot my place," Link said, bowing slightly.

"It's quite alright Link. Rauru says that the hospital could use some help with their patients, so we'll head there next," said Zelda, waving away Link's embarrassed apology. Then she turned to Aryll, who was looking away shyly. "And you must be Link's sister, Aryll!" Zelda smiled.

"Yes…" Aryll replied shyly.

Zelda laughed. "Well, I can already see you have Link wrapped around your finger, carrying you everywhere like that."

Link smiled at that too. "Yeah, I can't say no to her… and she knows it." He gave Aryll a quick, lighthearted jab on her side, causing her to yelp and squirm in laughter. "Let go of me Big Bro, hee hee," she laughed as Link tickled her, before Link obliged and placed her on the ground.

"Aryll, why don't you go with Link and Zelda today? It'll be fun!" Rauru chimed in.

"Yes, come with us Aryll! We could do so many things together," Zelda replied, her eyes twinkling. Aryll nodded happily, and before Zelda could do anything Aryll had grabbed her hand and began to drag her to the entrance.

Link turned to Rauru, who was smiling at him. "Link! Hasn't even been a week since I last saw you, but I missed you all the same." He embraced Link.

"It's good to see you again too, Rauru," Link replied, returning the embrace. "I've missed you both."

"Sorry for putting Aryll on you without notice, but I think she should be away from here for a little. There's too much death here," Rauru murmured to Link, withdrawing. "She could help at the hospital, and I know the people there would be happy to see her too!"

Link nodded. "It's no problem. I even have Rupees," he patted his pocket "to buy and play games. We'll be fine." He turned, spying both Zelda and Aryll near the exit. He sighed. "As much as I would love to stay and chat, I must leave now." Rauru nodded. "Your duties as Guardian must be very trying. Please, by all means, go. Hylia knows I have work here too, unfortunately," he muttered darkly.

Embracing for a final time, Link said farewell and hurried to the exit as fast as he could, where Zelda and Aryll waited. After Zelda mounted her horse, Link placed Aryll on Epona and seated himself behind her so he could make sure she wouldn't fall off. Together, they made their way to the hospital.

* * *

The hospital wasn't very large, but it had no trouble holding Hyrule's citizens when they needed treatment. It was composed of two buildings: one a building for patients, and the other for supplies. When they arrived, Zelda grabbed Aryll's hand and went inside the larger of the two buildings, which housed the patients, while Link tied the horses, much to his dismay. He'd prefer them to stay next to him in case something bad happened. When he entered, Zelda and Aryll were already walking around, talking and interacting with the patients.

"Ah, you must be Link?"

Link turned to the unfamiliar voice. A burly, elderly man with glasses and a stark white beard approached him. "Yes, I'm him…" he said cautiously.

The man smiled and extended his hand. "I am Doctor Kaepora Gaebora. I run this facility," he said cordially. Link shook the proffered hand. "Zelda said you were willing to help out as well. In that case, could you head outside to the supply building and help unload? The sudden influx of injuries from yesterday caused quite the chaos."

Link hesitated. He didn't feel comfortable leaving Zelda, and more importantly his sister, alone. _But it's a hospital. No one would attack injured people without cause. Plus,_ he reasoned, _no one even knows the Princess is here._

Link nodded to Dr. Gaebora, before heading outside. _Ah, the supply building even has a clear view of the main hospital entrance, so I can tell if any unwanted individuals arrive,_ he thought triumphantly. He wandered over to the building, which was smaller in comparison to the main facility, but large enough to house any supplies the employees may need. A cart rested just outside, full of supplies, but it seemed no one had gotten around to unloading them just yet. In fact, they seemed to have grabbed what they needed from the cart itself, as some boxes were already opened.

 _Well,_ Link sighed, dusting his hands, _time to get to work._

The boxes were surprisingly heavy, and there were quite a few inside, but Link steadily progressed. Frequently, he stopped and directed his gaze around the main facility to see if something was amiss, but nothing happened. _Heh, it feels like I'm just a lowly recruit again,_ Link thought as he arranged the boxes inside the supply building.

He was heading to the cart for the last box when he saw Zelda and Aryll leave the other building. Smiling, he waved them over. "Big Brother! Can we go to the Festival now?" asked Aryll eagerly, practically bouncing up and down.

Link laughed. "Of cour-" he stopped. He couldn't just say _yes_ like that, he was supposed to be following Zelda. "Well, that is, if Zelda wants to go," he corrected.

Aryll turned to Zelda and pulled out a weapon Link had always dreaded: puppy eyes. "Can we _pleaaaaase_ go to the Festival Ms. Zelda?" she said, hands clasped.

Link didn't even need to hear the reply; he knew Aryll had already won. No one could resist that face. So, turning to the cart, he began to pick up the final box. Suddenly, his right shoulder flared to life, and he let out a yelp of pain and dropped the box back in the cart. Zelda and Aryll turned to him with questioning faces.

"It's all right, my finger just got caught," said Link sheepishly.

Zelda and Aryll continued to stare at him. "He's lying," Aryll said flatly to Zelda.

"I know," replied Zelda thoughtfully. "We just have to figure out what really happened."

"Hm, hm," said Aryll, scrunching up her face in thought.

"Hey! You guys can't team up on me, that's unfair!" Link protested, wincing slightly when he involuntarily pointed with his right arm.

Zelda gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh Goddesses Link! I completely forgot about your injury!"

Aryll looked at Zelda questioningly. "Big Brother got hurt? Was it from yesterday?"

"It's not a big deal guys," said Link hurriedly. "It didn't even hurt that much, Aryll. My arm's just a little sore from all those boxes."

Now both Zelda and Aryll were glowering at him. Aryll marched right up to Link and grabbed his shirt, dragging him towards the hospital. "We're going to check out that arm mister, or else!"

Link laughed at her attempts to pull him along. "And what can you do to me Aryll? I'm fine, I'm telling you!"

At that, Aryll stopped and turned to Link with an evil grin on her face. "Well, _I_ might not be able to do anything, but _she_ can." She pointed behind Link to Zelda, who had an unreadable expression on her face and was following behind them. Link gulped. It seemed she and Zelda had gotten along a little _too_ well for his liking. He turned back to Aryll. "You're cruel, you know that?" Aryll only laughed mischievously, and Link had no choice but to follow.

* * *

The doctors checked his wound. Nothing was wrong with it, they said, but in order for it to heal properly Link needed to stop any trying physical activity. They gave him a bit of red potion, some final strict warnings, and let him go. The sun was still high in the sky, so there would be plenty of time for them to go to the Festival. This time, however, Aryll insisted on riding with Zelda, and the two of them chatted happily as Link followed behind.

Link grimaced and moved his arm in a circle. They'd given him new bandages, and he was feeling a bit stiff from that. _Aryll hasn't changed at all_ he thought ruefully. _Always finding some way to boss me around._

And so the rest of the day was spent roaming from stall to stall, checking out all the strange and unique trinkets found, and generally having fun. Link bought so many things for Aryll, and even Zelda had brought Rupees to spend, buying some beautiful amethyst bracelets, one for her and one for Aryll.

"Oh Big Brother! Can you win me that?" Aryll grabbed his arm and pointed to a giant, stuffed seagull on the wall of a game stand. It seemed one had to shoot toy arrows at a target and get a certain amount of points to win a prize.

Link gave her a mock smile. "Of course, Aryll. Oh, wait a second, but didn't the doctor say I needed to rest my arm?" At that Link gave a fake frown. "I don't think I can today."

Aryll pouted. "It's just a small bow, any kid could use it easily."

Link laughed. "Well still, having one of Hyrule's best shoot at targets would be unfair to everyone else. Sorry Aryll, but if you want it, you'll have to get it yourself." Link steeled himself before Aryll could pull any puppy eyes on him.

"I'll win it for you."

Link turned at the sound of Zelda's voice. Aryll opened her mouth in joy and ran to Zelda, giving her a hug. "Oh, thank you, thank you Ms. Zelda!" Then, turning with a frown on her face, she looked at Link. "You're way nicer than my brother…"

Link put a hand over his heart in mock pain. "Oh no! I guess I should just place the things I bought for you on the ground instead of carrying them everywhere…"

"No!" Aryll ran over to him and started beating her fists on him. "You can't!"

Link just laughed harder, and pulled out his sack of Rupees. "Well, this will be your last game, Aryll, and then we'll head to Town Center and listen to a few songs." Night had fallen, and bands all over the country were coming today to perform for Din's Festival. It was sure to be packed.

"It's fine, Link. I already paid for the game." Link looked up, and saw Zelda already poised with the bow in her hands. "You shouldn't have, Zelda," Link frowned.

"Well, I did. And I intend to win that seagull no matter what," she said, determined.

And win it she did. Her movements were fluid and natural, and she hit every target on or near the center. It really was mesmerizing, the way her hands moved and pulled a the bow, the way her eyes concentrated on the targets.

"Thank you again, Ms. Zelda," said Aryll gleefully, hugging the stuffed bird with delight. They were walking to the center of town now, and already they could hear music playing.

"You're very welcome Aryll. It was fun!" said Zelda happily.

"You handled that bow like a pro," said Link honestly. "You must have had _some_ training, right?"

Zelda gave him a wink. "It was all natural skill."

Link scoffed. "If that's the case, you're the best archer the world has ever seen."

"I am the best archer the world has ever seen."

"Oh? Maybe one day we could have a competition," Link's eyes glimmered in the darkness.

"Well, it wouldn't be much of a competition. You would lose in a heartbeat," Zelda teased.

Link struggled to come up with a witty remark as his sister and Zelda laughed together. "You guys are insufferable…" he muttered.

Thankfully, they had arrived. Courageous couples were already dancing together in front of the stage, where music was played live. Link, Zelda, and Aryll set down their belongings on the side, before a new song suddenly began playing. Aryll and Link's eyes lit up; this was a simple song they had danced to as children. Link remembered it well; Aryll could feel its familiarity. "C'mon Big Brother, you _have_ to dance with me right now!"

Link shook his head. "Sorry Aryll, but I have to stick next to Zelda now. It's so crowded here, anything could happen." Zelda turned to look at him, frowning.

Aryll pouted. "Big Brother, you haven't played with me forever. So you have to dance with me tonight." She stamped her feet.

Suddenly, Zelda gasped in surprise. "Nabooru! Aveil!" Turning, Link spied the two Gerudos coming towards them, pushing through the throngs of people.

"Zelda! It is so good to see you alive and well!" exclaimed Nabooru, embracing Zelda.

"We tried going to the infirmary this morning, but they said you had already been moved. Though, they couldn't really tell us _where,_ just that the Lord Guardian took you to some other place," said Aveil, glancing at Link.

"Regardless, we are so happy to see you Zelda," said Nabooru again.

"Actually, we couldn't even tell at first glance, since you were dressed so casually," said Aveil. "It really suits you."

While the girls were talking, Aryll was still trying to drag Link away. "I can't Aryll," whispered Link patiently again. "My job is important."

Catching Link whispering, Aveil turned and spied Aryll, who had basically hidden herself behind Link. "And who might this be?" she asked, curious.

Link turned to her. "Princess Aveil, this is my sister, Aryll. Say hello, Aryll."

Shyly, Aryll peeked out behind Link and waved.

Link continued. "She would like to dance with me, but I cannot be separated from her Highness. There was, after all, an attack just yesterday."

"Oh, lighten up Link! Nothing could possibly happen. Commander Russell has stationed extra troops, and, like you said, he did an admirable job routing the rebels," Zelda scolded. "Have fun with your sister!"

Link looked at her in disbelief. "With all due respect, your Highness," he began slowly, measuring out each and every word since he was in the company of three nobles, "I do not believe that a wise course of action at all. Regardless of what you say, many things _can_ occur, and I intend to be here if or when they happen."

Zelda seemed poised to retort when Nabooru stepped in. "Lord Guardian, do you think that we would be here without proper protection as well?" She pointed, prompting Link to turn. His gaze was directed on a group of Gerudo women dressed casually, leaning against a wall. "Do you see?" asked Nabooru. "Those are our escorts. They stay just far enough away to not draw undue attention to themselves or us, but close enough so they can reach us in an emergency." She then turned to Link. "Rest assured, if anything happens, we will protect Zelda."

Link stubbornly refused to give in. "Be that as it may, they cann-"

"Link! I am _ordering_ you to go and dance with your sister," said Zelda smugly.

Shocked, Link turned to her, before spying Aryll holding her hand and grinning. Link opened his mouth to object, then closed it. He sighed. "Zel- Your Highness, you really shouldn't spoil Aryll like that," he smiled. "That kind of power'll get to her head." He turned to Aryll. "Fine, I'll dance _one_ dance with you."

Aryll shook her head. "Two dances now. This song is almost over!"

Groaning, Link allowed her to take his hand and lead him away. He glanced back a final time before the crowd swallowed his view of the three princesses. He turned to Aryll. "Did I say you were cruel today, Aryll?"

"You're going to have fun whether you want to or not Big Bro," she stated. "And you're going to have fun with _me_ today too. Who knows when I'll see you again?"

* * *

"That Aryll has both of you wrapped around her finger, Zelda," laughed Aveil.

"Did you _see_ how cute she was?! Are you saying you could say 'no' to her?!" replied Zelda in mock indignation.

Aveil laughed. "No, you're right. She was too precious!"

* * *

After several dances (Aryll "persuaded" Link to stay for more; in reality he couldn't leave because she threatened to tell Zelda again and use her puppy eyes), Link finally returned with Aryll in tow. Zelda, Nabooru, and Aveil had moved to an open table near their spot, and were sitting and chatting together. Aryll rushed past Link and, with no qualms at all, grabbed Zelda's hand. "Now it's your turn to dance with me Ms. Zelda," she breathed, slightly out of breath and red faced.

"Aryll!" Link scolded, coming behind her. "You cannot just barge into conversation like that, it's-"

"It's fine, Link." Zelda interrupted. She smiled to Aryll. "I'd love to dance with you, Aryll."

"I'm next then!" Aveil piped up. "You can't keep her all to yourself, Zelda!"

Nabooru laughed. "I'm after Aveil then. You sure you will still have energy to dance with me after that, little one?" she asked Aryll.

Aryll started giggling uncontrollably, which caused all three ladies to start laughing as well. All three of them left the table and headed towards the dance area, leaving Link alone. Sighing, Link kneeled and grabbed the bag with all of their stuff, before melting into the crowd as well. He'd keep an eye on them from the shadows.

He watched as Aryll danced with Zelda, then Aveil, then Nabooru, then Zelda again. Though the Festival was continuing well into the night, many people were leaving now as they had no intention of staying awake through the night. Link worried about Aryll; she may have an enormous amount of energy, but even she needed to sleep. Fortunately, Zelda seemed attuned to Aryll's needs, as she said goodbye to Nabooru and Aveil soon after and began the walk back to the table.

Aryll seemed so sleepy, in fact, that Zelda had to carry her. Link fell into step easily behind Zelda, for there was no need for them to head all the way back to the table. He tapped on her shoulder. She jumped slightly and turned, holding Aryll tightly, before sighing in relief when she recognized Link. "Don't sneak up on me like that, Link. I thought you would be waiting for us!"

Link shook his head and smiled. "Sorry about that Zelda, but I'll always be close by, wherever you go." He gestured to Aryll. "I can carry her if you're tired," he offered.

She shook her head. "No, she doesn't weigh much at all, and plus she's too cute to let go."

And so they made their way to their horses. Zelda kept Aryll upright throughout the entire ride to the Temple. Rauru was still awake, waiting their return. "Sorry Rauru, we may have had _too_ much fun today," said Link sheepishly, following both him and Zelda to Aryll's room.

Zelda placed Aryll gently on her bed, and Link pulled the blankets over her, giving her a kiss on her forehead. "Happy dreams," he murmured, smiling. He used to always say that when they slept together. Then, slowly and quietly, he placed all the items he had bought for her on her nightstand, though she was still wearing the amethyst bracelet Zelda had given her. Still smiling, he closed the door behind him.

He turned to Zelda. "The castle, then?" She nodded.

* * *

It didn't take them long to reach the castle either. Link made a quick stop at the main barracks to request troops to be stationed outside Zelda's room, and made a point to reprimand the officer in charge for not having done that the night before. "In the future," said Link coolly, "Always send troops to that area of the castle." The officer saluted. "Yes sir!" he squeaked.

Finally, Link and Zelda made it inside. It was deathly quiet, most of the castle having gone to sleep. Zelda turned to Link. "You know, I think today was the most fun I've had for a long time."

Link smiled. "I think I can agree with that. Aside from the fact that you and Aryll made me do things I didn't want to do."

Zelda giggled softly. "Your sister is quite the persuader. It's just because she's too cute!" Zelda nearly squealed.

Link groaned. "Oh great, now she has the future ruler of Hyrule under her spell." They laughed together.

"I hope you dance well, Link. The People's Ball is tomorrow. We wouldn't want the Lord Guardian making a fool of himself."

Link jolted. He had forgotten. On the Third Day of Din's Festival, the King always invited anyone to come to the Castle grounds, where music played throughout the night and people danced away. Noblemen, peasants, royals, all interacted with each other that night. It was supposed to be a way for the people of Hyrule to recognize that, even though the Royal family lived and lead the country within the walls of the castle, that castle was only created because of working people, and they should recognize their own power of approval they had over the Royal family.

Link laughed. "Trust me, Zelda, I am an excellent dancer. And, if you doubt my skills in more refined areas, I even studied some waltzes just last night! Shad gave me a book on royal manners, which I read as I guarded your room. But, if we're being quite honest, I will probably just stand and keep watch." Zelda frowned at that, which did not go unnoticed by Link. "The attackers may be looking for an opportunity like this, so I must remain ever vigilant."

"What if Aryll asks me to order you to dance?" questioned Zelda, laughing.

Link grinned. "Fortunately, Rauru never let us attend the dance here. 'Too grown up,' he said. So Aryll will probably just stay with him."

"And what if some other royal from another kingdom orders you to dance with them? The Zora's said they may come to attend, you know," asked Zelda.

"Fortunately, I am not a citizen in their country, so I have every right to refuse," said Link stubbornly. Zelda gasped. "That's dangerous, Link! Some of them can be very petty…"

Link shrugged. "I doubt anyone would attack the Lord Guardian. Besides, I have such a boring social life they wouldn't be able to come up with any scandalous deeds to frame me for. No, I think I'm safe there."

"…And if _I_ order you to dance?" asked Zelda, glancing away.

Link glanced back at her. "Well, it depends. If you ordered me to dance with another royal, but you danced nearby, I may do it. The closer I am to you, the easier it is to protect you." Link thought a bit harder. "If you ordered me to dance with you, well…" Link smiled mischievously, "Well, that would be a bit sad for you, don't you think? The Princess of Hyrule, resorting to ordering her stalwart bodyguard to be her dance partner because no one else wants to!" He laughed.

Zelda slapped his arm, but smiled slightly all the same. "It was just a question, Link, no need to mock me!"

"Well, think of it as payback for your archery comment," said Link, laughing. "Although… I do not think it would be wise to dance with me. Won't your father arrange suitors for you soon?"

Zelda's face scrunched up in distaste. "Let's not go into that matter just yet… Although, I will dance with other princes and nobles tomorrow, most likely," she frowned, "so what would be unwise with dancing with you as well?"

"It's just… ech, nevermind. I don't really know what I was thinking," said Link, yawning. _That's a lie,_ thought Link. _I think I'm developing feelings for you Zelda. That's why it would be unwise to dance with you. Unwise for me, at least._ His heart was beating a bit too fast for his liking whenever he spoke to Zelda alone.

Suddenly, Link stumbled and nearly collapsed. "Whelp, that'll be the stamina potion," he slurred, struggling to stand straight. A danger with stamina potion: your body always gives out at the most inopportune moments. "Thankfully, we're right here," he said, yawning again.

He opened her door for her. "Are you certain you don't need me to tuck you in, like you did with me yesterday?" Zelda teased mischievously.

 _That_ made Link more awake. "Oh, you remember that?" he said sheepishly. "Well, I figured putting you in bed would be better than waking you. That last time is still fresh in my mind."

Zelda laughed again. "Just teasing, Link. Good night."

"Happy dreams, Zelda," Link murmured sleepily, leaning against the wall as Zelda closed her door. He had not waited one minute when he heard footsteps rushing towards him. Opening one eye, he spied two soldiers heading his way. He ceded his spot to them, and then stumbled his way to his room. Closing the door, he threw down his stuff and belly flopped onto his bed, a smile making its way across his face.

* * *

 **A/N: Oh man it took forever to type this beast out. I kept adding stuff as more ideas flowed into my head, and it was also hard creating meaningful but natural sounding dialogue. Well, it's out now, so time to keep moving forward.**

 **As always, thanks to everyone that followed and favorited! It's amazing motivation!**

 **Now, for the reviews!**

 **Matt Cyr: Yeah, FE is a great place to write and read one-liners. My FE story is already out, so I bet you now know what its about, haha. Thanks for reviewing!**

 **Stylin 80: Thanks for the compliment! Yeah, I get what you're saying, about how in some stories they're basically together within a week. I'm trying to make mine more realistic, but at the same time keep it interesting. It's hard to keep that balance, but fun at the same time! Right now, Link knows he has some kind of infatuation/crush on Zelda, which isn't really uncommon. However, it'll take him even longer before figuring out if its real or not and doing something about it. As for Zelda... well, she did warm up quite quickly to Link, didn't she?**

 **Oh, a reminder that I also have a Fire Emblem story I am working on, so updates will be slow... But they're coming, nevertheless!**

 **See you all next time!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

As the sun rolled in from the east and cast its light against the walls, Link dismissed the soldiers standing guard outside Zelda's room and took their place. He was noticeably better rested than yesterday, and wore his typical green Lord Guardian uniform. As he leaned against the wall, he pulled out his small book of manners and reviewed everything he had learned the previous night, mentally preparing himself for the People's Ball later tonight. He could dance most common dances; that wasn't what worried him. He was, however, concerned about the more formal waltzes. The Lord Guardian might, he suspected, be expected to dance statelier dances.

Link glanced up, pausing. _I'm the Lord Guardian… Can't I just refuse everyone…?_ The thought was appealing… It would allow him to concentrate only on Zelda's protection, and he wouldn't run any risk of embarrassment.

 _That settles that then,_ he thought smugly to himself, replacing the small book. If there was no need to dance, he wouldn't. Resting his head back against the wall, he closed his eyes and appreciated the silence surrounding him, save for a few noises from Zelda's room. _Noises?_ His ears opened his eyes and turned towards the door, wondering if he should enter. _Sounds like…_ He closed his eyes again and tried to concentrate. _Stupid walls are too thick…_

Suddenly, he faintly heard footsteps approaching from the hall. Opening his eyes, he was surprised by the approach of Malon. "Malon? I thought the Princess' schedule was free today too…" he inquired, curious.

"Well, it seems his Majesty's changed his mind. Apparently a message came late last night and changed everything," Malon replied easily.

"I see…" Link said, stepping aside for her group, puzzled. He leaned against the wall and waited for Zelda, his thoughts remaining on the possible noises and new developments.

* * *

The pair headed to the dining hall a bit faster than usual, as the King wished urgently to see them. Zelda had her brown hair hanging straight down and wore her usual white and purple royal dress, though she had foregone the pauldrons for the moment. Nothing about her seemed out of the ordinary to Link, so he pushed whatever he had heard in the morning out of his mind. _Probably just my imagination…_

When they arrived, they found the King in a flurry of chaos. He seemed to be giving orders to servants, who in turn would order other servants, who would then rush out to do whatever they had been ordered to do. He glanced up on their arrival and waved them over.

"Father! What is the meaning of all this? Is the Ball on schedule?" Zelda asked, looking around worriedly.

Her father stood up and moved towards the exit, the crowd moving with him. "The Ball _was_ on schedule, dear. That is, until this arrived," he held out a blue hued piece of paper to his daughter.

Zelda read through it, her eyes widening. "So the Zoras _are_ coming?!" she exclaimed, handing the paper to a waiting servant.

The King nodded, preoccupied with some kind of list. "Yes. And at the last minute no less," he grumbled. "Well, I trust you already know what to do, Zelda? Hop to it!" With that, the King rushed out, taking with him the horde of attendants.

Silence filled the empty room. Zelda glanced towards the table and snatched a piece of toast. "I shall be in my office for the rest of the day, Link. There is much to plan!" With that, she hurried out, Link following close behind.

As they moved through the halls, Link glanced around and noted all the changes that were being made. The People's Ball, though on castle grounds, didn't encompass the entire castle. In fact, the Ball would only take place in the area immediately outside the main castle walls and in the castle courtyard. The trickiest part every year was cordoning off areas that weren't in use. Guards would have to be placed nearly everywhere, and decorations would line the path inside the castle leading towards the courtyard so people won't get lost.

"The transformation really is magnificent, isn't it?" remarked Zelda, noting the changes that had begun. Orange and red lamps were being adorned on the walls, and people were beginning to roll out a rich red carpet that would lead towards the courtyard.

"I think it's amazing that the Ball has never had any problems, with so many people coming and going," Link replied.

Zelda nodded in agreement. "Father once told me that the last time the guards had a problem was when a certain prince was absent for too long. Apparently… well, I'm sure you could guess what happened." She laughed.

Link smiled in confusion. "…I don't follow, Princess."

Zelda laughed again, covering her mouth. "Can't you see? Father met Mother at the Ball! Oh, it's like a story book…"

They arrived at her office. As Zelda went inside, Link heard a voice calling to him. "-ardian! Milord!"

Turning, Link saw Shad running towards him, surrounded by a gaggle of people carrying stacks of paper.

"Morning, Shad. What brings you here?" Link inquired.

Without wasting a moment, Shad grabbed a sheaf of papers from one of his underlings and handed it to Link. "These are the schematics of the courtyard and a list of soldiers. As Lord Guardian, you have to assign the posts, shifts, and-"

Link held up a hand. "I was going to ask for something like this. It's exactly what I need for this event. Can you send someone shortly after lunch to pick these up?"

Shad nodded. "It will be done. Din be with you!" And without a second thought Shad moved past Link, his congregation following suit.

"…And may strength follow you," Link said to Shad's receding back. It seemed ages since he last heard that phrase, but he must have heard it last time Din's Festival came around. People always wished blessings upon one another on the final day as a sign of good faith.

Link strode into Zelda's office, taking a seat at his desk next to the door. Already the Princess had surrounded herself with various planners, pointing and gesticulating at drawings and maps. Ignoring the noise, Link set to work.

* * *

Lunchtime came and went with hardly a thought. Though a servant brought a few sandwiches, Zelda hardly touched them. She was simply too preoccupied with the logistics of the Ball, and how best to impress the Zora royal family.

"The banners have been placed as you said, your Highness," an arriving servant said.

"Good. Next, we must have different thrones set up for each member of their family…" _Goddesses, how many were coming again? Three? Four?_

"Three thrones then, your Highness?"

"For them, yes. But do not forget two more for my Father and I," she replied, glancing at a map of the courtyard. "The stage will be here…" she pointed towards the western side, "so place the platform with all the thrones up here," she pointed towards the northern side, which had the most open area.

"Yes, your Highness!"

"Make sure to plant some people in the crowd who will dance with the Zoras if none of the citizens are bold enough to ask," Zelda said, turning to another servant.

"Yes your Highness! Shall I do the same for your Father?"

Zelda nearly snorted, but managed to keep her composure. "No, nor for me. The people are simply a back-up plan, though I have faith the ladies of Hyrule will, at least, wish to dance with that one prince."

"Yes your Highness!"

 _Goddesses, so much work…_ She turned, catching a glance of Link. Link… another problem. He seemed nice enough, and they had become fast friends. In fact, she'd probably have never asked for that interrogation in the first place except for one small detail: her hand itched whenever he was near. Unconsciously, she clasped her hands together. _Though I decided against the interrogation… was that the right decision?_ Lately her hand had been troubling her more and more whenever Link was around. And the nightmares…

Shaking herself out of her reverie, she turned to the next servant and began relaying orders again.

* * *

Link stood outside Zelda's room, stretching his arms. It had been a long day of planning and following the Princess around, but they had finally finished all the preparations. Link was confident no attacker could remain in the courtyard for long, and the décor was simply fantastic. The grey, drab walls of the castle had been transformed into a fiery red and orange, the lights casting different colors and shadows. He had heard that a crowd of people had formed outside the castle walls and that people had begun funneling into the courtyard.

He rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. He had been… persuaded, he supposed, by Zelda and King Daphnes to wear the same royal armor he had been given for his Guardian appointment ceremony instead of his usual uniform. It was heavy, bulky, and slow, but it suited the occasion. The gold and red matched well with the theme of the ball. His hand beat an unsteady tattoo on his thigh; he'd felt the craving for a stamina potion around lunch time, but he fought the urge. The side effects from the previous day's potion started soon after.

Suddenly, Zelda emerged from her room. She was dressed in a long, sleeveless, red and gold dress that exposed her pale arms. She wore smaller golden pauldrons on her shoulders, and long, silky red tendrils of fabric looped from the back of those pauldrons to attach to golden bangles around her wrists, which emitted faint jingles as she walked. She wore a small necklace emblazoned with the symbol of the royal family around her neck, and a simple brown belt looped around her waist. Her brown hair was pulled back into an elegant ponytail held in place by a brooch decorated with a fiery motif, and she wore a tiara of gold and rubies. Her lips were a deep, luscious red.

Link's breath was stolen away.

Thankfully, his years as a soldier allowed him to keep his composure with (hopefully) nothing showing on his face. His right hand rested by his side as his left hand rested on a ceremonial – but still deadly – sword. As Zelda approached, he stepped aside and began to follow behind her, making room for the bustling servants surrounding them.

"You look very fashionable indeed, Lord Guardian," said Zelda, walking downstairs.

"I pale in comparison to you, your Highness," replied Link, inclining his head slightly.

Zelda laughed. "What of the Zoras? Have they arrived yet?"

Link shook his head. "The entourage his Majesty sent to escort them continues to make slow progress, your Highness. I estimate at least another ten minutes until they arrive on the castle grounds."

Zelda nodded, satisfied. They had arrived at the northern entrance to the castle courtyard, directly behind the thrones that had been set up. Heralds stood at attention, waiting for the signal to announce the arrival of the King and the Princess of Hyrule to the People's Ball. Speaking of the King, he waited right in front of the doors, speaking to a few servants and dressed more regally than ever.

"-arrive, take them to the southern entrance with a proper escort and make sure the heralds announce them loud enough. Make sure their rooms are prepared for the night as well, and most importantly, make sure their _every need_ is met."

"Yes, your Majesty!" they answered in uniform, and disappeared down the halls.

Turning, the King smiled and held out his arms for his daughter, who embraced him earnestly. "Another year, another dance, my daughter. You look lovelier than ever."

"And you," said Zelda cheekily, "seem to have the same attire as last year!"

The King made a look of mock indignation. "How ridiculous of you, Zelda! My cufflinks are very new!" The two shared a laugh.

"What do you think the orchestra should play for the finale this time, dearest Zelda?" asked the King goodheartedly.

"Hmm… a nice, slow waltz I think…" said Zelda thoughtfully.

King Daphnes chuckled. "Again?" Another chuckle. "Like mother, like daughter I see… unfortunately, I have already told the orchestra what to play for our dance," he said, winking and extending his left arm.

Zelda wrapped her right arm around the proffered arm and gave a mock gasp. "A surprise? Breaking tradition, I see."

The King laughed again. "Yes, well, you _are_ an adult now. Soon to be the ruler of this land after me!" Turning, he raised his bushy eyebrows exaggeratedly. "You will be praying for predictability then!"

As father and daughter laughed, Link stood in the shadows. He was speaking to the captain of the troops he had stationed, reviewing key protocols in case the worst happened. Satisfied, he dismissed the captain and waited. The heralds began to open the doors to the ball.

"PRESENTING HIS MAJESTY KING DAPHNES NOHANSEN HYRULE, AND HIS DAUGHTER PRINCESS ZELDA HARKINIAN HYRULE!"

Trumpets blared, and the doors opened inward to reveal the backs of five thrones and a large crowd. King and Princess were greeted with thunderous cheers and applause from the citizens gathered in the courtyard. Slowly, Father and Daughter walked around to the front of their respective thrones, which were on opposite sides of the stage, and waved to the people. Meanwhile, Link cast his gaze all over the crowd, looking for anyone out of place, and kept his ears open for any signals his guards may have sounded.

After a few seconds, both King and Princess sat on their respective thrones, and the orchestra began to play once again, the conductor directing all the instruments into soothing background noise and the chorus joining intermittently from behind. The few steps leading up to the platform of thrones were guarded by Hylian soldiers and cordoned off to deter anyone thinking of approaching the Royal Family at this time. Link took his place to the left of Zelda's throne and a little behind. Her throne was on the far left side of the platform, while her father's throne was on the far right side, giving the three thrones in the middle to the Zora guests.

"And now," said Zelda, leaning back slightly but keeping a fixed smile on the proceedings below, "we wait for the Zoras to arrive."

"Shouldn't be much longer, your Highness," said Link, his focus on the crowd. Turning, he gestured to the captain he'd appointed, who was stationed directly next to him but not on the stage. Link tapped his neck three times, asking for the royals' positions. In response, the guard gestured towards the southern entrance.

On cue, trumpets blared from the southern entrance of the grounds. "PRESENTING THE KING OF THE ESTEEMED ROYAL FAMILY OF THE ZORA PEOPLE, HIS MAJESTY KING DOREPHAN!"

A massive Zora squeezed in through the doorway. He was clearly a warrior of some kind, his massive blue body bulging with muscles. He wore a kind of royal Zora outfit that was very reminiscent of a military uniform, with a red sash extending from his left shoulder underneath his right arm. His intricate crown glistened as he walked towards King Daphnes, and though the scar on his forehead made him look intimidating, his smile as he shook hands with the King could set anyone at ease.

As the audience continued to cheer, Link shadowed Zelda, who had risen and moved to greet the Zora monarch. As they approached the still conversing kings of Hyrule and the Zora people, King Daphnes gestured towards his daughter.

"Of course, you remember my dear Zelda, don't you Dorephan?"

The massive Zora glanced over and accepted Zelda's proffered hand, offering a chaste kiss. "But of course!" He glanced up. "You have grown into a fine young lady, my dear."

Zelda smiled and offered a small curtsey. "Thank you, your Majesty."

"Now now, I insist we take a seat, lest we forget to announce your children, Dorephan," Daphnes said in good nature, leading the Zora king to his throne, which was directly adjacent to Daphnes'.

Throughout their talk, Link had remained in a kneeled position behind and to the side of Zelda. He hated it. He couldn't keep an eye on very many people, but protocol dictated the Lord Guardian greet any monarch appropriately. As Zelda moved back to her seat and gave him permission to rise, his eyes caught those of King Dorephan. They were… curious. The King observed him like he was contemplating something. The eye contact only lasted a brief second as Link turned his back, but he had a feeling he'd be the subject of conversation later on between the Kings.

Zelda remained standing, as did the King of Hyrule, in preparation for the next announcement, while Dorephan took a seat on his throne.

"PRESENTING THE HIGH PRINCE OF THE ZORAS, HIS MAJESTY PRINCE SIDON!"

Immediately, a chorus of cheers rose and filled the courtyard, and a lithe but powerfully built Zora entered. His red body seemed to contain limitless amounts of energy as he bounced towards the platform. He had a dazzling smile, Link had to admit, and as he approached Link noticed with some amusement that the Hylian guards had to keep pushing against the crowd, which surged in an attempt to get nearer to the Prince.

"Ha ha! How very pleasant to meet you again, King Daphnes!" exclaimed Prince Sidon enthusiastically, shaking the King's hand rapidly. "It really has been too long!"

"Sidon, my boy! You really have not aged much at all since the last time I saw you," said the King, looking him over.

The prince laughed. "Well, you know us Zora, we age much differently than you Hylians!"

The King gestured towards Zelda, who had approached. "My daughter, Zelda. You remember, of course?"

"How could I forget?" exclaimed Prince Sidon, accepting Zelda's proffered hand as she neared. "You've grown very beautiful, your Highness," said Sidon, placing a kiss against Zelda's hand.

"Thank you, Prince Sidon. You look quite elegant, though I do not think you need me to tell you that," Zelda laughed, gesturing to the still-screaming audience.

"Hah! It's always good to hear from your lips, Princess Zelda," laughed Prince Sidon. He glanced towards Link, who remained kneeling and downward facing next to Zelda. "I see you've chosen a Guardian. I hope-"

"Now now, Sidon, take a seat for your sister, otherwise we might be here all night talking!" exclaimed King Dorephan, gesturing towards his son to take a seat next to him.

As Sidon moved to take a seat, Princess Zelda and King Daphnes remained in place in preparation for the final guest. Link was trying his hardest to remain respectful _and_ observe the crowd, but it was proving difficult. Plus his knees had begun to hurt.

"PRESENTING THE FIRST ROYAL PRINCESS OF THE ZORAS, HER HIGHNESS PRINCESS MIPHA!"

At that, a smaller Zora a little shorter than Princess Zelda emerged from the door. She had a beautiful dress that seemed to be made from scales of some kind, and it shimmered and changed color every time the light reflected. She was a lighter shade of red than her brother, almost pink, and she walked slowly, with her hands clasped in front of her. She seemed quite shy for someone in the royal family. Even with all the cheers, she kept her gaze fixed on either two positions: the platform or the ground. As she approached the platform, she extended her hand, which was covered in a silky glove, to the King, who accepted it graciously.

"My dearest Mipha, how fare you?" asked the King genially, planting a kiss on her extended hand.

"I am quite well, your Majesty," she said with a melodic lilt, curtseying.

The King gestured towards Zelda. "You remember Zelda of course?"

Zelda approached and gave a small curtsey, which Mipha also reciprocated. "Of course, your Majesty, though it really has been a while," Mipha said with a shy smile.

"We do have much to catch up on," smiled Zelda, and escorted Mipha to her throne, which was directly to her right. "When I heard you were coming I-"

Link stepped behind Zelda's throne and to the left, placing him on the far side of their conversation. He glanced at the captain he'd appointed, who was standing next to the stage. Almost imperceptibly, the captain gave a shake of his head, meaning nothing of note had happened as Link remained kneeling. Satisfied, Link continued to gaze over the crowd, which looked expectantly at the platform.

King Daphnes moved to the center of the stage, and gestured to the orchestra to stop playing. "Citizens of Hyrule!" his voice boomed, silencing every voice. "Today, on this day of Power, we give thanks to the goddess, Din!" He remained silent for a moment. "But this day is also a humbling reminder of our own power, and the power every single one of you contain within.

"Whenever Hyrule is threatened by forces of evil, the people band together to push it back. Just a few days earlier, everyone here displayed the power of a united Hyrule." Silence reigned, as everyone took a moment to reflect on the horrific rebel attack. The King broke the silence. "While it may have been the heroic deeds of Commander Russell that drove out the attackers, it was the resilient spirits of all citizens of Hyrule that allowed us, and will continue to allow us all, the ability to heal and rebuild after this terrible ordeal. You have shown those heinous villains what it means to be a citizen of Hyrule!"

Deafening applause and cheers erupted throughout the audience at the Kings' words, before being silenced by a wave of his hand.

"Without you, there would be no Royal Family, no castle, none of this wealth." He gestured around him. "So today it is also a day of thanks, from us, to the people of Hyrule!" He nodded to the guards below him, who moved to either side of the platform and began untying the ropes that cordoned off the platform. "We are all creatures created from the goddess Farore, upholding Nayru's law, and powerful in our own ways thanks to Din. With that, every person on this stage," he gestured behind him, "will forget their status of royalty this day." At that, every monarch on stage removed their crowns, circlets, and tiaras from their heads and placed it to the side, with Kind Daphnes handing his to a waiting servant. "Nobles, barons, princes, princesses, carpenters, blacksmiths, no such titles shall separate us this day! Let us all celebrate as equals! Din be with you all!"

The crowd erupted into a massive cheer, and the King went down to greet the first people who swarmed up the platform to meet him. The orchestra began to play a lively folk dance, and people began to dance. For many, this celebration was one of the greatest days of their lives.

For Link, it just piled on more stress.

Though he'd like nothing more than to stop people from swarming up towards his charge, that'd kind of defeat the purpose of the Festival. So, as he watched the monarchs go down to talk and dance with the people below, he kept a firm grip on his sword and directed his hard stare to the first lucky citizen to whisk away the Princess of Hyrule to dance the first song.

 _Goddesses above, I hope the orchestra plays the shorter version of this song,_ Link thought to himself sullenly as he watched the two dance. Of course, the orchestra did no such thing. Link felt his stomach roll with every beat they played.

Finally, the song began to wind down. As the men courteously kissed their partners' hands farewell, Link could see Zelda's partner reach inside his coat for something.

Stiffening, he patted his left calf twice, hard, before letting his hand fall open-handed. The captain next to him stiffened as well, his hands on a whistle that would signal other soldiers to follow the Lord Guardian. He waited for Link's command…

To no avail. The man simply pulled out a rose hidden away in his coat and presented it to the Princess, who accepted it graciously. Link exhaled heavily, and waved his hand back and forth on his side, the "at-ease" signal. The captain relaxed.

 _Din, that seemed close,_ thought Link, his heartbeat fast. He sheathed the small knife he had surreptitiously pulled out, intending to throw it at the man if he had a more malevolent item. Of course, the large crowd just made it a tiny bit more difficult for Link.

Princess Zelda returned to the throne, slightly out of breath and clutching the rose. She gratefully accepted the glass of punch a servant had brought for her, and placed the rose on the arm of her throne as she sat down. "I think that was quite a longer dance, wouldn't you say?" she asked breathlessly, directing her question at Link.

"Yes, your Highness." _Eight minutes and thirty seconds long,_ Link thought dryly. _Well, at least now I have a bit of a respite._ Traditionally, if a royal returned to the stage area for a break, they'd have to wait until someone asked them to dance again. At this point, Zelda couldn't be in a better place for Link. _Maybe no one will ask Zelda again,_ Link thought humorously to himself. _At least then she'd be absolutely safe._

"No, not 'your Highness,' Link," said Zelda sharply. Link flinched slightly, wondering where he slipped. "Remember: no titles today," she said, turning and smiling brightly at him.

Unconsciously, Link returned the smile. "As you wish, Zelda." Satisfied, Zelda returned to her drink.

Just then, Prince Sidon returned, taking a seat on his throne. "Hylians know exactly how to have a grand party!" he declared enthusiastically, downing his drink. "If this dance is any indication, tonight shall be a tiring night indeed!"

"Worry not, Sidon," laughed Zelda, "Listen, now they play a slow song to break up the pace."

Indeed, the orchestra had begun a slow song. In fact, Link recognized it: it seemed to be a different version of a song he and his friends heard many sing in Castle Town. Glancing across the courtyard, he could see many other faces light up in recognition as well as they reached for new dance partners. Prince Sidon had very little time to catch his breath, as he was soon swallowed up by a sea of eager young ladies, all vying to dance with him.

Princess Zelda, however, remained seated. It seemed no one had asked her to dance this round. Link had a nagging feeling it had something to do with him: every time a person seemed poised to make his way up the stage, they'd hesitate, glancing in Link's direction… before promptly turning away. _Oh, perfect. Now the Princess doesn't have a partner,_ thought Link, mentally slapping himself. _And of course it's my fault._

Link tried not to seem too intimidating, really; he tried to keep a slight smile on his face, lowered his gaze so as not to stare too hard at people, and even slinked into the shadows a bit to minimize any effect he might have, but to no avail. As the next song came around, Princess Zelda still hadn't moved.

"Link, why do you hide so far in the shadows with that grimace on your face?" asked Zelda as the next dance came around, mistaking Link's taut smile. "Come, dance and celebrate with someone today!"

Link reluctantly emerged from the back of the platform. "With all due respect, your High- er, Zelda," _Got to get used to saying that in public today_ "my duty is to protect you, not celebrate."

Zelda huffed in disappointment. "Fine. I will not force you to enjoy yourself tonight." Her smile was fixed as she gazed at the crowd, but Link could tell she was frustrated and bored. A nice minuet had picked up, and Link knew only one way to salvage Zelda's image at this point.

 _It's just to keep the Princess' dignity intact… Yeah, her dignity,_ he repeatedly thought to himself as he moved in front of Zelda, his heart beating rapidly. Zelda glanced up questioningly as Link sighed heavily.

"Zelda, would you care to dance?" asked Link, extending a gloved hand. The minuet was still in its opening stages, preparing itself to start the actual dance. A little harp and cello plucked their strings.

Link would have laughed out loud at her incredulous face if his body wasn't already so tensed. But slowly, with a dazzling smile spreading across her face, she placed her hand in Link's and rose. "I would be delighted to dance with you tonight, Link," she smiled.

Together, they made their way down to the dance floor and began the slow, intricate steps to the dance. It was light and airy, the notes seemingly floating away into the night sky above, and everyone constantly remained on their toes, swaying back and forth. As Link placed his left hand just underneath Zelda's arm and clasped her right hand with his own, he could have sworn he felt some spark shock the both of them, but soon enough his mind became preoccupied with the steps of the dance and observing his surroundings.

Violins and piano notes began to jump in, creating a melody reminiscent of an ancient forest, slow but constant. Link's mind was working in overdrive: he glanced down at his feet trying (and failing) not to step on Zelda's toes, he kept his ears open for any signals from his guards, and his body remained tense. _Because of the risk of an ambush, clearly_ Link thought humorlessly to himself as he tried not to dwell on the person in his arms.

"Relax, Link!" laughed Zelda. "Look at everyone having fun! Nothing's going to happen here."

"Be that as it may, Zelda – ah, sorry again. I can't dance this minuet right," he muttered, stumbling over his own feet again. "Why can't the Minuet of Forest be any slower? It's about trees!"

Zelda laughed again, her rich voice filling Link's ears. "Just relax and have fun! The dance will be over before you know it. I think you're doing quite well for a beginner."

Link snorted. "The Lord Guardian shouldn't act like a beginner in anything. But I'm glad you're trying to salvage what remains of our dance," he smiled, glancing around for any danger.

But slowly, Link did relax. His taut grip loosened, and he even began to have… fun. It was fun joining in with everyone, swaying back and forth in time with the music.

Zelda noticed the change in Link's demeanor. "See, _that's_ the Link that should emerge today. Not some stuck up Guardian."

Link raised his eyebrow, and decided to tease Zelda. "Oh, so I'm stuck up when I try to do my job? You should have told me before, I would have been lax with security today!" he laughed.

Zelda laughed alongside him. "That's _not_ what I meant, Link, and you know it! I just mean you should appreciate the finer things in life, like music… dancing… a nice girl in your arms," she looked up and smiled seductively.

In faux disgust, Link pushed his arms a bit further away, as if to hold Zelda at a distance. "Well, I certainly am enjoying the music and dancing so far!"

Zelda opened her mouth in mock horror. "Link!"

Link laughed and brought her back a bit. "Fine, fine, it was just a joke!"

The dance began to close, and Link separated from Zelda, bowing and placing a chaste kiss on her hand, as was customary. He pretended the heat rushing to his face was because of his heavy clothes and the dance. "It was an honor to dance with you tonight. Din be with you, Zelda."

"And may strength follow you, Link," smiled Zelda, curtseying. Link turned to take his leave, but stopped in his tracks when he noticed a small, red Zora blocking his path.

Link bowed slightly, inclining his head. "Your Highne-" He paused, remembering the lack of titles this day. "Uh, I mean, Lady Mipha," he fumbled. "If you'll excuse me," he turned to leave and take his post again on the stage.

"Link!"

Link flinched. Slowly, he turned to face Zelda, who was leading – practically pushing – Mipha towards him. "I'm certain he would be honored to dance with you, Mipha," Link heard Zelda say to the Zora sweetly. "Right, Link?"

Link met Zelda's gaze, who practically blazed with a fury thousands of times more intimidating than Ganon _,_ and he smiled. "Of course. Lady Mipha, would you honor me with a dance?" he asked, extending a hand.

"Y-Yes, certainly!" Mipha stuttered, graciously accepting his hand. Her hands underneath her gloves seemed surprisingly smooth, not scaly like Link had assumed. As they prepared to dance, Link could have sworn he caught Zelda winking to Mipha. _Damn it, Zelda,_ Link thought, privy to her plan. _As if protecting her without dancing wasn't hard enough._

Musicians began to pluck their strings, with the harps taking center stage. The music took on a tranquil, almost underwater nature. _Must be a Zora song,_ Link mused to himself, since he couldn't recognize it. The rhythm was very simple, however, and he found his steps came almost naturally. A choir had also joined, and the dance soon began in full.

"Balaenoptera Musculus," blurted Mipha abruptly.

"…What?" Link said in confusion.

Mipha giggled slightly. "…Balaenoptera Musculus. That's the name of this waltz."

Link looked even more perplexed. "Why is the name so long and complicated? Wouldn't something more catchy sound better?"

"It's… named after a large aquatic creature we Zora are familiar with… far off in the ocean," she said, pausing here and there to think on her words.

"I see… how large are these creatures?" Link inquired, striving to keep the small talk from faltering.

"Oh, they're easily 100 feet long," she said nonchalantly.

Link's mouth dropped. "100 feet?! What- ack, sorry!" he exclaimed as he stepped on the Zora's webbed feet. "I'm afraid this dance isn't familiar to me…"

"Oh! N-no, you're doing much better than my brother," she stammered, looking to her right. Link also glanced over, just in time to see Prince Sidon stumble over Princess Zelda's feet, his dance partner. She didn't seem to mind though, and they both began to laugh.

"Yes, well, at least he seems to be having fun," Link said, before realizing his error. "Er, not to say that dancing with you isn't fun, your High- um, Lady Mipha," he stuttered. "I only meant-"

Mipha laughed, a soft, tinkling sound. "It's quite alright, Sir Link. My brother Sidon has been known to be a bit… much, for a few," she said, referencing his unending energy.

Link smiled. "Just Link, Lady Mipha. No titles today."

He could have sworn Mipha turned a shade redder. "T-Then, it has to be the same b-both ways. Just Mipha."

Link let out a breath and glanced down, laughing slightly. "It was just a sign of respect. I didn't know if you felt comfortable with a stranger just using your first name," he confessed.

"You aren't the first dance I've had, L-Link," she stammered. "The Hylians here don't share the same reservations."

"… Really?" Link asked with genuine curiosity. "…I must confess, I'd never attended this Ball until today, so I didn't really know what to expect." While he spoke, he directed his gaze near Zelda again, who seemed to be just fine. "So… Mipha it is, then."

The dance reached its climax, with the violins and cello taking center stage and playing a slow, repeating rhythm. Link unfurled and extended his hand, which allowed Mipha to spin gracefully out and back in again to Link's waiting arms. The choir also began to sing with great gusto, and the dance resumed its original steps.

"Are you sure this is the first you've heard of this song?" asked Mipha. "Not many know how to properly dance it like you."

Link laughed again. "Honest, this song is completely new to me! But… I don't know, the music just seems to tell me what to do."

"… Y-you must be very musically inclined then," she mused. "Do you play any instrument?"

"Um… just as a hobby. It's a small flute thing called an ocarina," he said. "Rauru insisted," he explained. "And you? Do you play anything?"

Mipha shook her head. "I sing, usually. It's provided me with comfort many times, especially when my duties begin to overwhelm me."

Silence overtook them for a moment, before Mipha spoke again. "Forgive me, but… why do you glance near Zelda so often?"

Link's attention snapped back to Mipha. "I am the Lord Guardian. Her protection is my duty," he said automatically.

"But… we're at a dance, and there's no shortage of guards," she pointed out.

"I can't be too careful, especially with the recent attack."

"But I thought your Commander Russell pushed them all back, unless…?"

"They're rebels using guerilla tactics. Hiding is their specialty. I doubt even Commander Russell thinks they're all gone."

Mipha paused, thinking. "Even so, don't you think you worry too much over too little?" she eventually asked.

Link laughed. "You sound exactly like Zelda. But I can't afford to be sloppy. As the youngest Lord Guardian, I have immense pressure on me to not mess up. Besides," he added, "the Princess deserves the best protection imaginable."

"There must be something else," Mipha pushed, uncharacteristically aggressive. Immediately, she seemed to grow a shade lighter, and stammered out an apology. "F-forgive me, I don't really know what came over me."

Link shook his head. "It's alright…" He remained silent, lost in thought. "Truth be told, I can't afford to lose this position." He met Mipha's gaze, smiling wryly. "I know, not the noblest of goals, just doing it for the money and the benefits. But with this I'll be able to live comfortably, and provide for everyone. Zelda knows too," he added hurriedly, seeing Mipha about to ask.

"Still, I doubt a more patriotic Guardian could match your levels of concern," she said thoughtfully.

Link tilted his head. "I'll take that as a compliment, Mipha."

The waltz began to wind down, and the two separated. "It was an honor to dance with you tonight, Mipha," he said, placing a chaste kiss on her glove. "Din be with you."

"And may strength follow you as well, Link," she replied in kind, smiling. From the corner of his eye, he could just make out Zelda making her way towards them. "If you'll excuse me, I must return to my post now," he said, turning his back.

Thankfully, he wasn't stopped too often on his slog back. The occasional offer to dance from a lady was quickly silenced by his harsh glare, or with the sharp shake of his head. As he resumed his post, he spoke to the captain below him, who hurriedly ended his conversation with a party-goer when he saw Link approaching. "Tell each soldier they're allowed two dances each, and have them take turns in a clockwise manner, starting with yourself," Link ordered. He figured it wouldn't be fair for just the Lord Guardian to have to opportunity to revel in the celebration, forced or not.

"Are you certain, milord?" the captain asked uncertainly. "I-"

Link impatiently nodded his hand and made a shooing gesture with his hand. "Yes, yes, I'm sure I can handle having one less soldier at a time. But make sure it's only _two_ dances," he said, hardening his gaze.

The captain saluted, and quickly disappeared into the crowd, as if afraid Link would take away that offer.

* * *

Link, for his part, hardly changed his gaze from Zelda for a good few hours, until he heard a voice call out to him from his right. "You, Lord Guardian. Come here!" Link turned slowly, only to realize it was King Dorephan himself beckoning to him. "At once, sir!" Link replied in surprise, and made his way over, standing to the King's left and a bit behind.

The King studied him as he slowly drank from his cup. "…Link, was it?" he grunted. "Curious… you have a certain aura about you…"

Link raised an eyebrow. "I have no idea what you mean, sir," he said. "I'm as ordinary as-"

King Dorephan waved his hand impatiently. "Ordinary? Heh, the youngest Guardian in history, ordinary?" He let out a deep laugh. "You remind me of someone… Extend your left hand," he commanded.

Link, still confused, did what he was told. The King turned it over in his own hand, muttering to himself as he examined every inch of Link's glove. "Have you never seen-"

"No, never." Link interrupted impatiently, seeing where the conversation was headed. "I know the stories of old, and I am _not_ that Hero with the Triforce of Courage on his hand." He snatched his hand away from the King's grip. "The story may be true, but I have no relation to that person at all."

The King laughed. "I see I am not the first to inquire. But," at this, he leaned closer to Link, "the spirit of the Hero never needs to be passed directly from person to person. Are you familiar with the story of the Great Sea?" he inquired.

Link nodded. "I also know the Zora are nearly cousins to the air-loving Rito because of the great flood," Link replied.

King Dorephan nodded. "This is true, but not what I wished to say. Stories passed down from the Rito declare that the Hero of Wind, who saved them and lead them to this new Hyrule, had no relation to the Hero of Time whatsoever."

Link tiled his head. This was new knowledge. "But that alone does not mean I have the spirit of the Hero," said Link in confusion.

The King waved his hand back and forth again. "I know, I realize this… the musings of an old man, I suppose," he sighed. "In any case, I heard of your feats against those rebels. Three against one, and you took them down nearly immediately! It reminded me of the ancient stories we Zora have passed down about the Hero…"

Link remained silent. He really didn't know what to say to the King's peculiar ramblings.

Suddenly, the orchestra stopped playing, and a hushed silence fell over the crowd. Link and King Dorephan glanced at the dance floor, where they saw Princess Zelda and King Daphnes preparing to dance. "Ah. If you'll excuse me," said King Dorephan as he saw his daughter beckoning to him. Link nodded, and retreated back to his post.

 _Must be the final dance of the night before everyone retires,_ Link thought to himself. That meant it had to be around four in the morning, which was traditionally when the dance ended. _At least nothing bad happened tonight._

Right on cue, the orchestra began to play a slow, graceful waltz. Link smiled wryly to himself. _"Surprise," yeah right, Daphnes. The slow waltz Zelda wanted."_

It was really quite simple and short. There was a repeated theme of three notes, which gave it a sense of regality and, at the same time, a sense of levity as well. Zelda, for her part, seemed ecstatic at the song, and was laughing right alongside her Father. _Zelda's theme._ The name popped into Link's head as he thought what to call it, and he nearly laughed at how fitting it was.

And as the Ball ended, Link couldn't help but sway slightly to the rhythm. Zelda caught his eye for one moment, and she smiled knowingly. _Ha! The Lord Guardian DID have fun,_ she seemed to say. Link simply shook his head, though he couldn't conceal the grin extending across his face.

* * *

The guards were beginning to escort people out of the courtyard and castle, and the royals deigned to wait on their thrones until all the stragglers had left. They placed their crowns and tiaras on their heads, further emphasizing the end of the day. Zelda couldn't wait to sleep, but at the same time she didn't want to stop conversing with Mipha as well.

"Goddesses, one person who asked me to dance seemed so afraid. Honestly, his face was ashen! He didn't seem to be enjoying himself at all, so I wonder if perhaps someone dared him to dance with a royal family member," she heard Mipha say to her.

Zelda laughed. "Didn't enjoy himself? Sounds like Link," she quickly glanced over her shoulder to see if Link had returned. Fortunately, Link was still directing the final operations, trying to get everyone out. She leaned over to Mipha, "I couldn't believe he asked me to dance with him! Though I suppose he felt he had to, seeing as I had no partner for a few dances…"

Mipha shook her head quickly. "Don't be like that, Zelda! I think Link just scared everyone away. He's… intimidating before you talk to him, I think" she said quietly.

Zelda raised her eyebrow. "Intimidating? …I suppose. But tell me, how was your dance with him? You were practically ogling him when you first entered!"

Mipha looked startled, and lightly slapped Zelda's resting hand in embarrassment. "W-was not! And it was fine. We actually talked during the dance, though he seemed more focused on where you were at all times…"

Zelda huffed in annoyance. "I swear… he can be incredibly annoying with his overprotection."

"Or maybe it's something else," said Mipha teasingly, revenge for Zelda's earlier comment.

Zelda laughed out loud. "Oh please, Mipha. Him? Oh, no offense to you, of course!" she laughed again. Mipha glared at her. "Oh, c'mon Mipha, please don't take it like that!"

Mipha shook her head. "Trying to play coy, Zelda? I did hear you flirting with him during your dance."

Zelda covered her mouth, trying in vain to conceal her laugh. " _Flirting?_ I was just trying to get him to enjoy himself! He's just so… dead, when he's the Lord Guardian."

Mipha huffed, giving up at Zelda's logical explanations. "Well, when you come to Zora's Domain, make sure to bring him along too. He's much better than all the suitors I have to deal with…"

Zelda groaned. "As if I could get rid of him anyways… Suitors, goddesses, already? Feels like yesterday we were just children playing around."

Mipha smiled. "Yes, well, I am much older than you, Zelda. Slower maturity and all that. Besides, you don't have long until _your_ father puts you through the gauntlet too."

Zelda groaned again, placing her head in her hands. "Don't remind me."

"Talking about suitors, are we?" Sidon piped up from next to Mipha. "Oh, some of Mipha's are terrible."

Mipha turned to Sidon. "It's none of your business, Sidon! Why don't you go back to talking with the King and Father?"

Sidon pouted. "But they're just talking about general politics and local disputes! Booooriiiing!"

As Mipha and Sidon continued to argue, Zelda could feel a faint tingling sensation running down her arm, which was a good indication Link was nearby. Turning, she saw him skulking near her throne, keeping an eye over everything. He nodded to her when he caught Zelda staring.

Sighing, she sat back in her throne, rubbing her hand absentmindedly. Throughout their dance, Link's grip had grown hotter and hotter against her hand, even though his actual grip remained loose. She had no doubt her heritage was trying to tell her something… but what? _Just maddening. What does it mean?!_ And she didn't look forward to a night of strange dreams again…

"Your Highness? Is something the matter?"

 _Dear Hylia,_ she gritted her teeth in a forced smile as she turned to Link. Of course he had noticed _something._ And, of course, her hand began to itch uncontrollably. _Not threateningly,_ she reminded herself, _not like the other times._ It just wanted to say something…

Zelda realized her silence might be worrying to Link. "Oh, yes, everything is fine, Sir Link," she replied, keeping up with proper courtesy. _Can't have Mipha being even more unbearable,_ she thought. "I think I'm just a bit tired. The night has been long."

Satisfied, Link retreated to his position again, though she sensed his watchful gaze wouldn't waver for some time.

"Please, this way your Excellences," she heard a servant call.

Turning, she spied Mipha, Sidon, and King Dorephan exiting the courtyard, following a servant who directed them towards their rooms. She waved good bye to Mipha, who returned the gesture.

"Now, then. Time for us to retire as well," her Father said, drawing nearer. Smiling, she stood up and began to walk. Link, of course, fell into easy step behind them. It wasn't long until they reached her quarters

Turning, her Father addressed Link. "Er, Link my boy, could you wait a bit farther down the hall? I would like a word with my daughter." Link acquiesced, and retreated to the beginning of the corridor.

Zelda looked up at her Father, curious. "Zelda, I know when your gift is bothering you," the King began, jumping to the heart of the matter. "You rubbed your hand so many times tonight I was afraid your skin would peel off! What is the matter?"

Zelda hesitated, and glanced towards Link, who had his back to them. "I do not really know, Father… But I think it's trying to say something about… Link."

The King nodded, understanding immediately. "Ah, and that is why you wanted to question him not a week ago, am I correct?" She nodded.

The King sighed heavily. "Well… this is troubling. I do not believe Link is a danger, however-"

"No, it's different this time, Father," Zelda interrupted. "It's not warning me about something – at least, it does not feel like that – but instead it feels like it's trying to say something…" Zelda laughed slightly. "Maybe it is because I am so tired tonight, but it feels like it is trying to say something… familiar. Like I have known this for my entire life." She shrugged. "But I do not know for sure."

Her Father placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I can move Link, send him somewhere far off-"

Quickly, she shook her head. "No. That would be ignoring my power. He should stay. Besides-" at this, her eyes lit up with humor, "I know you greatly enjoy his company more than anyone else here. It would be a shame to send you with him."

The King guffawed, and brought his daughter into a hug. "Just being cautious, dearest Zelda," he said. "If, however, something new happens, tell me immediately. I am your father, after all."

She slowly extricated herself. "I know, I know. Good night, Father."

"Good night, Zelda."

* * *

As the King moved past Link, Link could hear two sets of footsteps rushing towards them. _The cavalry's just arrived in time,_ he noted as two breathless soldiers appeared before him. Turning, he signaled them to fall in step behind as he approached Zelda's door.

"Sleep well, your Highness," he said as she began to shut her door.

For some reason, Link could have sworn he heard Zelda snort with laughter, as if she found something ironic. "You as well, Lord Guardian." She shut the door.

Link positioned the two guards outside Zelda's room and ordered them to wake him up five hours from now, before he himself retired for the night. There was nothing posted on his door, and no paper in his room, meaning Zelda didn't have a schedule the next day.

 _The whole of Hyrule will probably sleep late_ he thought, yawning. He could probably get away with sleeping a few more hours than what he told the soldiers, but he didn't want to risk waking after Zelda. He knew how heavy of a sleeper he could be at times. _Goddesses though, maybe I can catch a few Z's when I'm leaning outside her room waiting,_ he mused, slowly extricating himself from his royal armor. With hardly a second thought, he fell onto his bed and passed into deep slumber, the sounds of the dance and his moments with Zelda filling his short-lived thoughts before the dive into darkness.

* * *

 **A/N: Wow, University sucks haha. Surprise! I'm still alive and kicking, though Uni is doing its best to kill me. I'm trying to be top of my class because I want to go to Med school, so it's pretty draining on my free time. This was always in the back of my mind, however, and I finally pushed it out. I did have a few concerns: namely, I personally feel that my writing is going pretty downhill from my first chapter. It kinda killed my motivation because I'd write something, then erase it because it just didn't sound right. But I realize now that, even though I might never reach the same levels as my first chapters, I still have a story in my head I want to push out, and I really like writing about Link and Zelda. I hope you guys bear with me through this journey, and definitely if you see ways in which I could improve please leave that review! Speaking of, onto the reviews!**

 **Luchux: Hey, thanks for your support! For your questions, 1. I'm not really dead set on what Link looks like just yet, so use your imagination for that, but Zelda is basically TP version. For 2. so far Link is just gonna be a knight and there wont be a grand adventure to save the world. But I'd be lying if I said I knew exactly where the story was going, so it might change in the future!**

 **Awakening5: Yo man thanks for the support! And you bet she did 0_0**

 **GlamAngel3766: Well, the above isn't a full chapter, but I hope you enjoy reading it anyways! I'm not good writing feminine characters but I'm trying to learn!**

 **MysShadowdragon: Thanks!**

 **AnonymousStalkerFriend: IKR! Aryll = COAT (Cutest Of All Time)**

 **Guest: Wow man I'm sorry I haven't been updating as frequently, but I hope you still like it!**

 **Cap is my hero: First, thanks for the review like a month after the chapter was released, and second sorry I couldn't deliver :( . I won't abandon this story, however, without telling you guys, so sooner or later the update will arrive!**

 **Brickgirl 101: Thanks for reviewing, even after a month of stagnation!**

 **Arora Woodmnyx: Don't worry, the suspense is always temporary. And thanks for reviewing nearly two months with no updates.**

 **WonderingStarNightmare117: Thanks for the review, even after nearly 2 months of no updates!**

 **Whew, that seems to be it, then. I look forward to seeing how you guys like it. Next update will be for my fire emblem story, but as for when THAT update is coming... I know as much as you guys. I'll try to write in my free time, I'll try to make time to write, but I can't promise something I wont be able to keep. Keep the support coming, it does actually help me alot. Again, hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

 **P.S. In the above chapter I reference two songs by name: Minuet of Forest and Balaenoptera Musculus. If you want, you can search them on youtube and listen to them ("Minuet of Forest (new)" by Hylian Ensemble, "Balaenoptera Musculus" by Austin Wintory). They were really great inspirations! Idk the rules of this site very well, which is why I'm not directly linking the videos.**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Link woke to the sounds of sharp knocking on his door. "Milord! The sun's up, and I came to wake you like you ord-"

"At ease, soldier. You're dismissed," Link groaned, forcing himself off his heavenly bed. The knocking stopped. "Yes sir!" Link could hear the footsteps receding down the hall.

His eyelids felt like sandbags weighing heavily on his face, forcing themselves closed. Shaking his head, he moved towards his basin and washed his face with cold water. _Another busy day,_ he mused, drying his face.

After a quick, cold shower, Link changed and walked over to Zelda's room, leaning against the walls as usual. He yawned, folding his arms. He suspected Zelda wouldn't be awake for some time, but on the other hand he couldn't shirk his duties as Lord Guardian. _Well, not like this was unexpected,_ he thought. _I knew exactly what being Lord Guardian meant, so I only have myself to blame._

His left ear twitched. Someone was… unlocking the door? _Wait… Zelda's awake?_ he thought in confusion as the noise grew more audible. Slowly, the door opened and Princess Zelda emerged, glancing furtively to the left, towards Link's room.

Unfortunately for her, Link had stationed himself on the right side of her door.

"Good morning, Zelda!" he exclaimed cheerfully, raising a hand in greeting.

Zelda jumped, startled by the unexpected greeting. "Ah, good morning Link," she said, turning and smiling at Link. "I was just… heading for breakfast."

"It's only been five and a half hours since the Ball," Link said suspiciously. "You ought to go back to sleep."

Zelda shook her head. "I feel quite refreshed actually! In fact, when I woke up, I tried to fall back asleep, but I simply couldn't! Now I just want… breakfast." She clasped her hands together, her right thumb rapidly rubbing the back of her left hand.

Link raised his eyebrow. He could have mentioned the poorly concealed bags under her eyes or her nervous demeanor, but decided to let the matter drop… for now. "Well, I'm sure there's something in the kitchens, though I doubt they've started making breakfast." He extended his hand towards the hallway, bowing slightly. "After you, please."

Wordlessly, Zelda began to walk down the hall as Link fell into easy step beside her. As they walked, Link puzzled over Zelda's behavior. _Waking up this early… maybe she really wasn't sleepy. Or maybe it was something else… nightmares?_ Link allowed his thoughts to follow whatever path they desired, trying to decipher the clues. _There were those noises a couple days ago…_

When they arrived at the kitchens, the few servants waiting around immediately jumped to attention when they noticed both the Princess and the Lord Guardian stroll in. "Your Highness! Er… to what do we owe this pleasure?" one managed to stutter. "We haven't started to make breakfast yet, but-"

Zelda raised her hand. "Something small that can hold off my hunger will do for now. A sandwich, perhaps?" The servants happily made a jam sandwich for her to take.

Surprisingly, Zelda chose not to eat in the empty dining hall. Instead, she and Link wandered to the Royal Gardens. They came to a small side path, where at the end of the stone path a small bench stood, surrounded by flowers of all kinds. Zelda, for her part, promptly sat on the bench and began to munch on her sandwich, while Link stood near the entrance to the alcove, which was a respectful distance away. As Zelda enjoyed her meal in peace, he continued to puzzle over her actions up to this point. _There's really no way around me asking her,_ he finally thought in resignation. _Unless I don't really care._

But, it was the Lord Guardian's duty to protect the Princess, and Link supposed he should add emotional damage to the list of things a Lord Guardian should worry about. Most importantly, however, he did consider Zelda his friend, and he wanted to help if there was actually something wrong. _It could just be nothing! I'm literally stringing two potentially unrelated things together!_ he debated within himself. _Or perhaps those two things really are related… Gah, does it even matter?!_ He folded his arms. _But I can't just ask her out of the blue…_ He continued to duel with his thoughts.

Suddenly, he caught sight of a streak of red emerging from the other side of the garden. He soon recognized Princess Mipha making her way towards him and Zelda, dressed in a much more casual dress than what she wore for the Ball. _Perhaps this was why Zelda woke up so early? Because she wanted to talk with Mipha alone?_ Perplexed, Link nevertheless bowed as Mipha approached. "Good morning, your Highness. I assume you're here to see Princess Zelda?" He figured asking couldn't hurt.

"Er… G-good morning, Sir Link," she replied courteously. "Yes, I…" Suddenly, she caught Zelda shaking her head furiously. "…Well, actually I decided to wander the gardens this morning, and noticed you and Zelda were already here! It was a… nice coincidence," she finished, turning back to Link.

Link inclined his head, his back to Zelda's relieved nods. "My apologies. I shouldn't have assumed, your Highness." _Coincidence indeed… Even she looks like she wanted to sleep more._

"N-No, really, it's quite alright," she said, slightly taken aback by Link's apology.

"Well, in any case, I'll not hold you, your Highness." With that, he stepped to the side, allowing her to wander down the path towards Zelda.

* * *

"Hi Mipha!" Zelda said brightly, patting the spot on the bench next to her. "I'm glad you came."

Mipha yawned, unsuccessfully attempting to hide it with her hand. "I really wanted to sleep longer, Zelda, so this better be important." She sat down. "Also, I thought you said we'd be alone."

"Well, I _thought_ we would be alone," grumbled Zelda as she split her remaining sandwich in half, handing one portion to Mipha. "Unfortunately, Link seems to be awake at all kinds of ungodly hours, always keeping watch. I'd rather he not know what I'm about to tell you, or even suspect anything – though I doubt he'll remain in the dark for long."

Mipha began to chew her half of the sandwich, taking small bites. "Well, at least he's good at his job. Better than some lazy, glory-seeking hog, right?"

"Maybe," said Zelda indecisively. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Actually, he's part of the reason why I woke you so early…"

"Why are you whispering?" Mipha replied, looking back towards the entrance to the alcove. "There's no way he can hear us from here."

Zelda snorted. "Knowing him, his ears have been meticulously trained to pick up any sound in his nearby area."

This was, of course, true. But even Link's ears couldn't clearly hear what the two Princess' were discussing among the chirping birds and the general hubbub of the castle surrounding the gardens, though he did know they were, at least, talking.

"So… what is it then?" Mipha replied, whispering back.

Silence for a few moments. Then, "I've been having a recurring nightmare. I know you have experience in that area, with… Well, in any case I didn't know when I'd be free to speak with you in private like this, so I impulsively decided to talk to you today. Hence, the message you undoubtedly received."

Mipha nodded. "It was a bit jarring to see a solider knocking on the door so early, but I know you must have had a very good reason."

Unconsciously, Zelda began to rub the back of her left hand with her right. "It started four nights ago, after the… the rebel attack." She swallowed the lump that rose in her throat. "I saw Link… that day, he was… terrifying." She turned to Mipha. "You must have heard about my state when I arrived at the castle? Rumor flies so fast."

Slowly, Mipha nodded her head. Zelda continued. "That day was the first nightmare. I attributed it to the events that happened that day, but it's continued. I can barely sleep at night now.

"In the nightmare, I'm sitting in the gardens, in this exact spot." She gestured around her. "The first flower I pick starts to… bleed, I would say. Spewing some kind of dark energy. Soon enough, that… darkness spews from every single one of them, even the ones I didn't touch, and they all let out a terrible scream.

"I start to run down towards the exit," she pointed towards the entrance of the alcove, where Link stood. "But it starts to stretch out, forever. The darkness soon surrounds me, and I can barely see where I'm running… But I know something's chasing me. I can't turn around, but I hear it's heavy snorts and breathing behind me.

"Suddenly, to my right I see a burst of light, and a person silhouetted against it. I start yelling for help, waving my arms back and forth, and the figure draws a sword and shield." At this point, her voice drops even lower. "I can see who it is at that point: it's clearly Link." She points towards the entrance of the alcove. "But… he's enveloped by the darkness too. And as I'm begging him to save me from the thing chasing me, he… stabs his sword at me!"

Zelda mimicked the action, plunging an imaginary weapon into her abdomen. "But right before I'm impaled, I wake up. Sometimes I wake up with a cry, but other times I'm just paralyzed," Zelda finished.

Turning, Zelda grasped Mipha's hands with her own. "Mipha… please tell me you can help! It's… I'm terrified of falling asleep now…" Mipha seemed lost in her own thoughts.

Finally, she spoke. "…What does your… heritage say? After these nightmares?"

"It always shines brightly afterwards, for a few minutes" Zelda said immediately. "Even in the dream it's shining, though it can't illuminate anything." Suddenly Zelda snapped her fingers. "Oh! In the dream, before Link draws his sword and shield, he's reaching out to the light with his hand!"

"Was the light already there, and Link was trying to… leave, or something? Or are you saying Link… created the light?" Mipha asked, puzzled.

Zelda shook her head. "I don't know. All I remember is begging for help, really. It could have been either."

Mipha sat in silence for a few moments. "…With… with Ralis, the nightmares clearly showed how… what would happen to him," her voice hitched. "Yours… yours are more vague. But I think I might be able to help." She cleared her throat.

"Clearly, the darkness foreshadows some kind of… well, something negative, for lack of a better word. For you, or Hyrule, or for someone close to you," she began to conjecture.

"Your hand shining, but not illuminating anything, might mean you're not strong enough in some way to handle what's coming alone… Since you can't fight it, you run. As for what you're running from… it could be some unforeseen enemy, or something hidden deep inside you… I'm sorry, but it's too difficult to know for certain," Mipha theorized, letting her head rest on her hand as she thought.

"As for Link…" here she paused, ruminating for a while. "I think… well, it could mean many things. For one, if he created the light in your dream, he's key to destroying the real darkness. But that wouldn't explain why he lunged at you…

"On the other hand, if he's reaching to the light to take it or leave through it, he could be part of the darkness, trying to spread it to other places. That would also explain him spearing you…"

She seemed to be finished. "Sorry I'm being so vague, but I can't really say if Link is something to be worried about or not…" she apologized.

Zelda shook her head. "No, no… you helped very much, actually… I think I will visit the Temple of Time for more answers today. Perhaps the goddesses above can shed some light on this." Zelda raised her left hand slightly and sighed. "Even during the Ball, it was trying to tell me something…"

Mipha tilted her head. "What exactly did you feel, Zelda?"

Zelda shook her head. "It didn't really hurt. It just kept getting hotter and hotter the longer Link and I danced. And whenever Link comes around my hand itches badly." She sighed. "Sometimes, this wretched thing gets so annoying."

"Don't say that, Zelda!" Mipha scolded. "The goddesses clearly blessed you with your power for some reason… Maybe Link is a part of that."

Zelda put a hand to her head. "I know, I know. It's just… confusing. At least I have you to talk to, though," Zelda smiled. "You've always helped whenever it's acted up. Better than Father sometimes, too!"

Mipha laughed. "Well, perhaps the goddesses gave me a role to play in this story too… But yes, it's always nice talking with you." She rose from her seat, Zelda rising with her.

"…I must say, however, that I can't see Link as someone who would harm you," Mipha replied thoughtfully. "He's too dedicated to you and your well-being, to a fault even!"

Zelda smirked. "Of course you would say that, wouldn't yo-"

"Z-Zelda! I'm being serious!" Mipha replied, laughing anyways. "I really can't foresee anything bad for Hyrule with him by your side," she said, clasping her hands. "Even the Gerudo rebels can't- unless… who are they led by?"

Zelda shook her head, starting to walk towards the entrance. "No one knows. But the Gerudo would know if a man had been born in their territories," she said, sensing Mipha's heavy implication. "Even still… perhaps a visit to their land would be helpful… We'll see."

* * *

As the Princesses exited, Link stepped back and bowed slightly. _Too bad I couldn't hear anything they said,_ he thought morosely. He followed them to the exit as they spoke of the rising Gerudo rebels, eventually bowing again as Mipha left.

"Link, I think I want to go visit the Temple of Time right now," Zelda said suddenly, turning and walking towards the stables.

Link started, taken aback by this sudden suggestion. "Er… I would prefer a little more time to prepare, your Highness," he stuttered as Zelda continued walking.

"Well, I'm certain you can manage just fine with a five minute notice," Zelda replied sharply. "In any case, it really is urgent."

Sighing, Link acquiesced to her demands. Not that he really had a choice. "Very well. But remember- any danger, and you answer to my commands."

"Anyways, shouldn't you be excited about the idea of meeting Rauru and your sister?" Zelda continued, not listening to Link's words.

"When I'm with you, your Highness, all thoughts center around your safety," Link replied automatically. He opened the entrance to the stables.

"Yes, that's what the Lord Guardian thinks," Zelda replied coolly, stepping through the open door. "But what about Link?"

Link paused, thinking. "I suppose Link from Ordon is missing his sister and father a bit," he grudgingly admitted. "But the Lord Guardian always takes over first. After all, I chose this life." As they conversed, Link gestured for a stable hand to fetch his and Zelda's horses.

"Ah yes, a life fit for a Lord. Tell me, how do you feel about the land, wealth, and title you'll soon receive?" Zelda replied.

Link glanced at her, raising his eyebrow. "…Why so sharp today, Princess Zelda? I know I didn't wake you this morning, so it must be something else."

Sighing, Zelda resorted to rubbing her eyes. "…My apologies, Sir Link. I… must have not slept very well last night."

"Now that's weird," said Link, sensing his opportunity. "Just this morning you were telling me all about how awake you were! Now, this?" He eyed Zelda suspiciously. "Something you're not telling me?"

Zelda met his gaze unflinchingly. "Even if I wasn't, would it be your business?"

 _Ouch,_ Link thought, flinching inside. _She does have a point, but…_

"I would argue that the Lord Guardian should protect his charge from all dangers, physical or not," Link managed to reply. "Especially if it affects your health." _Yeah, you tell her Link!_

Zelda snorted, a light exhale escaping her nose. "Now that might be taking this far past your duties, Link," she said. As they spoke, the stable hand arrived with their horses in tow.

As Zelda mounted her horse, Link held onto its bridle, keeping it steady. "Well, perhaps my memory is a bit faulty, buuut…" he began hesitatingly, "didn't you tell me that your Father _wanted_ you to confide your problems with me a few days ago?"

Zelda scowled, but she must have realized the truth of Link's words since she didn't immediately respond with a cheeky comment. In fact, she didn't say anything until Link himself was mounted on his own horse, Epona. "…After the Temple, Link. Then I might."

Link sighed, but nodded all the same. "Well, that's all the answer I need, really, since it sounds like your visit to the Temple has something to do with me." He was taking a shot in the dark with that guess, but it made sense. _If it's true,_ he thought, _it's probably because of the attack four days ago._ He grimaced. _Of course I'm still paying the price for that._ He urged Epona into a light trot, leading Zelda and her mount in the direction of the Temple of Time.

Zelda sighed. "I thought you would begin to suspect such a thing, though I hoped it wouldn't happen for some time," she admitted. "Let's just say I have… an uneasy feeling."

Link was silent for a few seconds as his thoughts were confirmed. "Well, just remember: as the Lord Guardian and your friend, you can confide in me – and if I'm the problem, all the easier to fix!" He turned around and gave Zelda a thumbs-up.

Zelda frowned. "It's… not as simple as you might think, Link. That's why I'm going to the Temple: to ask for advice."

Link nodded. "I suppose you also plan on asking Rauru some things too?" he asked. "He is The Sage, after all."

Zelda nodded in reply. "Of course. There's no telling if the goddesses will even answer today, so we may be making this trip for a while."

 _I wonder what about me, exactly, would cause her to head to the Temple of Time of all places,_ Link thought. He concealed his concern, smiling at Zelda. "Well, for now, I'll just concentrate on getting you to the Temple unscathed."

"Ah, yes. I'll be in your hands should an enemy ambush us on this open field," Zelda retorted, gesturing to the empty area around them.

Link groaned. "Duly noted. You can thank me after I save your life-"

"From what? A fallen bee hive from one of these lone trees?"

"Hey, bees _can_ kill you if-!"

"I'm not-"

The castle quickly receded behind them as the two bickered and exchanged banter, lending normalcy to a kingdom soon to undergo dramatic change.

* * *

 **A/N: Yo, everybody! I wanted to finish this before Thanksgiving, but oh well.**

 **You'll notice that this Chapter is quite shorter than usual and more dialogue heavy. This is because I'm at a crossroads, of sorts, for where the story should go, and I need your help.  
** **A few months ago, a reviewer asked me if I had considered making Link a hero who would save the Kingdom. Back then, I told him I didn't have any plans for that, but the story could go there if my writing naturally seemed to flow in that direction.**

 **Well, in my head now I can see a story of epic heroism unfolding, quite by accident. I always intended this story to be more about emotional and psychological struggles, but now I can see myself writing a story of epic heroism where Link saves the day from some evil. Hence, this chapter. The nightmares allow me to move in either direction pretty seamlessly, so I now pose this question for you guys:**

 *****Do you want to see Link and Zelda embark on a quest to save Hyrule from some force of evil? Or do you like the more emotional and psychological conflicts I try to portray instead, with bits of action here and there?*****

 **Let me know in the reviews, because you guys really do influence my writing in many ways, and I want to hear what the audience wants! Although, I will admit that ultimately if I end up thinking I can't write a story like that I'll just continue with the original plan.**

 **Since Thanksgiving happened less than a week ago, I'd like to express my heartfelt thanks to you guys. Seriously. This is my first FanFiction story ever, and without even reaching double-digit chapters we have _71 favorites and 118 followers!_ That's really amazing, and it's all thanks to you guys. So, thank you. I hope you guys stick with me through this journey, because when I'm at my lowest point and my writing begins to suffer, I'll rely on you guys to bring me back to my feet!**

 **Wow, longer A/N than normal, but I had to get it all out. Now, onto the reviews!**

 **Dr. Frankenstein: It required a lot of caffeine and determination, but THIS MONSTROSITY HAS BEEN BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE!**

 **reading turtle: Your words really encourage me a lot, so thank you! I'll try not to let school get me down, for sure. And if you think this story is shifting or changing in ways you don't really enjoy, don't be afraid to voice your opinion in a review, since I'm always looking to improve!**

 **AnonymousStalkerFriend: Thanks! You've been a great and consistent reviewer, and I really appreciate that!**

 **Crulova: Thanks!**

 **Stylin80: Hey, short reviews are no problem at all! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far, and your words of encouragement really do wonders for my motivation.**

 **Aaaaaaaaaaaand we're done here. 'Till next time!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

… _O Goddesses! Hear my prayers and answer my call!_

Zelda kneeled before the Altar of Stones, clasping her hands in front of her and closing her eyes. The Temple of Time was relatively empty, save for the occasional wanderer entering and leaving. Most all of the dead – Zelda shuddered at the memory of the attack – were mourned for and buried, and yet the Temple retained a somber air even with the few people present.

It had been a few hours since she and Link had arrived… and still no response from the Goddesses above. She sighed. It _had_ been a while since she had come to the Temple solely for prayer, but still…

 _Maybe I should come here more often so they do not grow angry against me,_ Zelda thought ruefully as she shifted her legs. _Or maybe I'm just not asking the right question..._

Her mind drifted.

When she and Link had arrived, Aryll spotted them almost immediately. She came running over to her brother, who tried his hardest to keep a serious look on his face but inevitably scooped his sister up in a crushing hug. Surprisingly for Zelda, Aryll ran up to her next and demanded the same thing, which Zelda eagerly reciprocated.

"Look!" she said afterwards, pointing to the amethyst bracelet Zelda had bought for her at the Festival. "I wear it every day!" she exclaimed happily.

"Yeah, nice, well, we came for an important reason today Aryll," Link began, transitioning back into Lord Guardian mode. "Is Fa- Rauru available?"

Aryll stuck her tongue out at him and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Dad's here," she said, grabbing Zelda's hand and leading her inside. She and Rauru had then discussed the potential options available to her, though she didn't confide the entire issue to him, and Rauru had eventually agreed that the Goddesses would be best suited to her needs. He quickly set up a private area for her prayers, before leaving to attend to his other duties.

 _Plink_

Zelda jolted, opening her eyes and snapping out of her thoughts. Her gaze landed on a relatively simple goblet to the side, filled with water. She could also make out, from the corner of her eye, Link walking silently away with his back to her.

 _Always attentive,_ she thought, taking the goblet and eagerly soothing her parched throat. _For all the candidates of Lord Guardian, I see why Father favored him above others… He takes his duty… seriously. It's only when he's around his sister that the façade really drops._

As Zelda placed the goblet down, her body froze as an image rose, unbidden, to the forefront of her mind. A calm-!

And just like that it was gone.

 _No!_ Zelda thought feverishly. _Finally a sign, and then I lose focus!_ Quickly, she redirected her thoughts to what she was thinking of earlier and clasped her hands together in the traditional prayer form. _Father?_

Nothing.

… _Water?_

…Nothing.

… _Link?_

Nothing! She hadn't expected anything from that last thought though, since she'd been praying to the Goddesses for the past few hours about that matter anyways.

She mused silently for a few moments, letting the ambient sounds of the Temple wash over her: the sounds of people murmuring, the pitter-patter of feet walking across the stone floors, loved ones murmuring with each other…

 _Perhaps… I've only though of Link through what he represents as the Lord Guardian here… What of Link the Hylian, O Goddesses?_

Instantly her body froze. Well, not froze necessarily: it was more akin to having extreme tremors running throughout the entire body and with such frequency they froze you in place. Something Zelda remembered from long ago, when…

Ah, but Zelda's mind began to drift through darkness, halting her reminiscence. The voices of unnamed people or things floated through her consciousness, until she made out a light at the end rapidly approaching.

… _Wielder of Our Power…_ voices murmured through her skull, _Nayru recognizes the correct Question; now, with the power, knowledge, and courage of Three, heed Our Answer!_

A forest, old and shadowy, rose to her thoughts. She wandered to and fro, and yet she sensed something… plots? Yet… there was… someone next to her, a guide… The sounds of swords clashing, threats given, yet fierce loyalty always by her side... But her mind flew on, uncontrolled…

…A desert? Heat pressed from all over. Again... she felt her previous guide guiding, though her vision was naught but blur. This time, the heated exchange of words, a preservation of… something… and familiar laughter, in the face of darkness. Her mind flew on.

The Castle Gardens this, no doubt. The smell and feel were all familiar, and yet, a pressure engulfed her body throughout. She struggled, crying out and trying, successfully, to break free. A chase, though she could not see… The presence of her guide, nowhere to be found, and danger, behind, continued to hound. Zelda turned to face this darkness head-on, a force of hidden malevolence. Her heritage, shining brightly, but… it's useless?! Perhaps… simply overwhelmed…? A plea made, her guide finally arriving, but a terrible… trade…? Dying?

And her vision thus departed.

The tremors keeping her body in place subsided, and Zelda slumped her shoulders, exhausted, as her mind worked in overtime. _What did I just see?_ she thought, shakily grasping the goblet she placed aside earlier. _Or more importantly, what did I feel?_ She took a small sip. _Why did They only show this to me after I asked about Link as a person? And-_

"…Your H- Er, Zelda?" Link voiced behind her. "Is everything alright?"

Slowly, Zelda nodded her head, not that surprised Link noticed something wrong again. "…Yes Link… My prayers were heard, though I fear they raise more questions than true answers…" Finishing her water, she rose to her full height. "In any case, I believe we are finished here."

Link nodded, and turned to head towards the entrance. "Big Brother!"

Link turned, only to be tackled by a small ball of energy. "Bye Brother," Aryll whispered, hugging Link tightly. Link picked her up and began walking towards the entrance again. "Don't worry, Aryll," Zelda could make out, "in a few days, I'll be taking you on a trip somewhere nice!"

Aryll lit up. "Where?!" she asked eagerly, her eyes wide. Link chuckled. "That's a surprise, seagull. But, if all goes well, you'll see."

Aryll pouted. "Aw, you won't tell?" Link shook his head, placing her down as he came to the main doors. "But it'll be worth it!" he replied. Furtively, Link gspeard around to see if anyone was close by before whispering. "Make sure you tell Father I said goodbye!"

Aryll grinned, nodding, before giving Link one last hug. As Zelda came, Aryll gave her a hug too. "Bye, Zelda!" she said happily before bouncing away. Zelda smiled after her.

"Shall we head off then?" Link asked, bringing the horses forward. "We may be able to catch lunch with everyone if we hurry." Zelda nodded.

* * *

As they rode back, Zelda exhibited an unnatural silence. Link assumed she was pondering over the knowledge the Goddesses had graced her with, whatever it may have been. He so badly wanted to know what she had been told, but he held his tongue. When Zelda was ready, she would say.

So, on the journey back, Link planned his "little trip" with Aryll. His job as Lord Guardian was… taxing, to say the least, though he'd be the last one to admit it. _Two more days, and I'll have served this job… for a week_ he thought ruefully. Since he'd first taken on the role, he'd been privy to an assassination plot, a Royal Ball, and unneeded drama between him and the Princess, and it was still, technically, the "honeymoon" phase of his job.

In any case, the Royal Family usually officially gave the Lord Guardian his land and initial payment after the first week, which would mean this Saturday, and Link was looking forward to it. That meant he and the Royal Family would venture down to who-knows-where to see his new land, and he'd finally be able to support Aryll and Rauru comfortably (a soldier's salary was nothing special after all, and Rauru's duty as the Sage only gave him so much). Link suspected that the King would grant him some land near the newly created village of Hateno, but until the date passed his thoughts were just that: thoughts. Still, at least he and Aryll would be able to enjoy themselves when they arrived, though Link supposed he'd still have to guard the Princess even as she toured the area with him. _Maybe Aryll could even live forever at… well, my home,_ he thought, the idea bringing a smile to his face.

"…Are you looking forward to Saturday then, Link?" Zelda interrupted.

Link turned, raising his eyebrow. "Are you talking about finally seeing my land? Yes, very excited," Link replied with a smile. "In fact, I was just thinking about that myself. Aryll will be so surprised, she has no idea!" he laughed.

Zelda smiled in return. "Yes, I overheard your little conversation with her. You do realize I'll be coming too, right? Won't you be too busy protecting me?" she mocked.

Link shrugged. "Oh, I've already planned for that. You'll either be at my side for the most part or you and his Majesty will be accompanied by a small group of guards I'll scrounge up!"

Zelda scowled, unimpressed. "I had hoped such a trip would relax you, but I see I was a fool for thinking so," she huffed. "You spend far too much energy on this."

Link laughed. "If I take a job, I surpass everyone's expectations. That's my way," he shrugged. "And, I mean, you're still alive despite everything that's happened, right?"

Zelda looked down. "…Hard to believe a week has nearly passed. I feel as if I've known you for far longer." She glanced back up, smiling cheekily. "…Unfortunately."

Link placed a hand over his heart, making a face full of mock pain. "Oh, you wound me Princess! Had it been up to me, we'd have been friends from day one," he winked. "No one could hate me!"

"I find that very unlikely," Zelda retorted, bringing her horse parallel to Link as they approached the Castle. "Someone has to dislike that overbearing work ethic and attitude."

Link thought for a moment. "…Nah! Only you!" he smiled. Zelda swatted at him.

When they arrived in the dining hall, they found the others beginning to dig into a large assortment of dishes set out before them. King Daphnes, as always, ate at the head, but where Link usually sat to the King's left, King Dorephan sat. Next to him sat Prince Sidon. There was, however, an empty seat next to Daphnes' right hand, so perhaps he anticipated Zelda would return. Princess Mipha sat next to this empty seat.

"Forgive us for our tardiness," Zelda began with Link following. Two servants emerged from the shadows to pull out Zelda's chair for her as Link melted against the wall.

King Daphnes waved Zelda's apology away. "No matter, no matter! We had just begun anyhow," he said, brandishing his cutlery. He turned to Link. "Link, please, sit!"

Link hesitated. On one hand, he had no desire to go against Daphnes' wish; on the other, he was nervous about eating with other royalty. "I do not wish to intrude," he began cautiously, "as-"

"Nonsense!" King Dorephan exclaimed. "It is as Daphnes says! Come, sit next to Sidon here!" King Dorephan gestured.

Link stepped forward in defeat, unbuckling his sword from his waist and moving around the table until he came to the seat next to Prince Sidon. Placing his sword to the side, he waited for the servants to pull his seat out before sitting. By then, the Kings were discussing among themselves quite animatedly as both Princesses whispered back and forth: no doubt discussing Zelda's trip to the Temple.

"So… Sir Link, was it?" Prince Sidon began, spearing his food. Link glanced up; even when sitting the Prince towered above him. "Er… yes, your Highness. The new Lord Guardian," he replied, "as you might already know."

The prince laughed heartily, giving Link a toothy smile. Link swore he could see his reflection in those teeth. "Ha ha! Yes, I know all about that! But you're so young, how did you get it?"

Link smiled sheepishly, beginning to dig into his food as well. "Well, that's a question better suited for his Majesty, but I just tried my hardest and, well, I suppose it was enough."

They talked animatedly for a while afterwards: about Link's training, about Sidon's own talents (he himself took down a giant Octorok recently) until lunch finally ended. "So Link! How about a friendly archery match?" Prince Sidon suddenly blurted out as Link buckled his sword.

Link laughed. "Forgive me, your Highness, but I must stay by Princess Zelda's side. It is my duty."

Sidon huffed. "This won't do at all," he muttered to himself before storming to the other side of the table where Zelda and Mipha stood. "Er, Zelda?" he began, making her turn from Mipha, "could you, perhaps, order your Lord Guardian over there to have an archery contest with me? He _insists_ on staying by your side."

Turning, Zelda made eye contact with Link, who had his eyebrow raised just slightly. Smirking, Zelda turned back to Sidon. "If it's an archery battle you want, why not have one with me?" she asked sweetly. Link turned around to conceal his grin, coughing into his hand.

Sidon, for his part, looked taken aback. "Ah, er… well, I just wanted to see the Lord Guardian's ability for myself…" he began. "After all-"

"Nonsense brother!" Mipha interrupted. "I think you're just afraid Zelda can beat you!" she said mischievously, knowing her younger brother would take the bait.

Next to them, both Kings began to chuckle as well. "Ha! She has you there Sidon," King Dorephan said. He turned to King Daphnes. "What say you, Daphnes? It's been quite a while since we ourselves have sparred. How about one for old time's sake?"

King Daphnes laughed heartily. "Ha! I'm afraid the Goddesses haven't been as kind to me as they have to you old friend! But very well, let us _all_ go down and enjoy ourselves this afternoon!" he exclaimed, turning and walking out. King Dorephan followed.

Prince Sidon looked aghast. "Now look what you've done Mipha… Our Fathers, fighting! How awful," he moaned in good humor. "Very well, Zelda, if it's an archery contest you want, you shall get it!" he exclaimed confidently before walking out with the Princesses in tow. Link followed silently behind.

* * *

"Three hits for the win, Dorephan?" King Daphnes asked, holding his rapier forward. He held a royal rapier that tapered to a small but pointy end. His usual cloak was discarded for some armor, though he decided against some headwear.

King Dorephan, on the other hand, changed little. He too had a rapier, but he seemed to prefer his natural scales to any Hylian-made armor, though he had placed his red sash to the side to free his body a bit more. "Sounds perfect to me, Daphnes."

"Link, come here and count for us!" Daphnes gestured. Link obliged, jogging forward to gain a better position.

"Cross your swords please," Link began, indicating the correct custom for a friendly duel. The Kings obliged, before separating and standing a few paces away from each other. "…START!" Link yelled, swinging his sword downwards.

The fight began slow, with both Kings circling. King Daphnes had his rapier held out with his right hand while his left was beside his head, in the traditional fencing pose. King Dorephan's stance was far wider, with both hands at his side and spread out, his rapier's tip facing down. Link's critical eye could see that neither had lowered their guard, though Dorephan's unique stance did seem to imply vulnerability. A few jabs were exchanged, but no major hits were traded.

Suddenly, King Daphnes lunged forward with a grunt to meet Dorephan's rapier again. However, this time Daphnes twisted his grip until Dorephan's rapier was stuck in his hilt, glaring into the Zora King's eye. Then, with tremendous strength, he broke the contact and sharply rapped the Zora King on his leg, ducking underneath Dorephan's retaliating swing and bringing the Zora King to a kneeling position. Link quickly jumped in to allow the Zora King to regain his stance and raised his hand, indicating Daphnes had won the first hit. "One!" Daphnes held out his hand to help the other King get up.

Again, the two broke and circled each other, sweat beginning to accumulate on their bodies. Daphnes lunged forward, looking perhaps to land the same hit, but this time Dorephan knocked his sword to the side and landed a hit square against the Hylian King's ribs, causing him to wince. Link raised his hand again. "One!" This time, however, Link allowed them to continue without interruption.

King Daphnes smiled in good nature as he blocked the Zora King's next quick strike and took up his position, which King Dorephan responded to in kind. A few more jabs were traded, but nothing major happened until Dorephan committed to a huge overhead swing, which Daphnes blocked in the nick of time. The Zora's strength was unmatched, however, and even as Daphnes tried to maneuver himself out of the way he caught a heavy hit to his shoulder, bringing him to the ground. "Two!" Link said, poised to jump in and allow Daphnes time to get up.

He needn't have bothered. King Dorephan himself brought the Hylian King to his feet, dusting him off and patting his back. Daphnes himself laughed, brushing the other off and saying he was "just fine!" They retook their stances.

Daphnes moved to swing, which Dorephan began to swat aside, before feinting and moving underneath the Zora King's swing. With a massive whip above, Daphnes rapped Dorephan's wrist, causing him to cry out and involuntarily drop his sword, before moving to place his sword against the Zora King's neck, giving him a light tap. "Two! Three!" Link finished with surprise. Daphnes had carried out this entire maneuver within a few seconds, and Link counted the wrist hit and neck tap as two hits. "It seems his Majesty King Daphnes has emerged victorious!"

King Dorephan shook his head. "What absurd luck!" he groaned in good humor. "First you cut my hand off, then you chop my head off!" he said, shaking Daphnes' proffered hand. "Next time, however, we use spears!" King Dorephan laughed.

King Daphnes laughed as well. "Just as well, then. I doubt I'd land a single hit on you when you use your trident!" The two exchanged a quick handshake, grasping each other's forearms.

Claps came from the waiting Princesses and sole Prince, and Link even noticed a few impressed servants slyly admiring the match. "Right, now it's our turn!" Prince Sidon exclaimed, bounding away to the nearby archery range where the targets were just being set up. Everyone followed.

Sidon and Zelda both grabbed bows. Each target had a colored ring that gave a set amount of points, the center being ten and the bare outside being one. If someone managed to split an arrow in half and lodge that arrow in place, the opponent would lose their points from that arrow while the other gained double the amount. It was, by and large, a game of pure skill.

"Shall we begin?" Sidon ventured, stretching the string of his bow taut. "I am eager to best you today!"

Zelda laughed. "Then I am afraid you will be quite disappointed," she retorted, grabbing a handful of arrows and placing them in the quiver on her back. "Whenever you're ready?"

Sidon nodded, before lining himself up to the first target and firing. _Thwap._ Ten.

Zelda too lined up with that target, firing her own arrow. _Thwap._ Another ten. "Not bad for the first round," Sidon said, moving to the second target. "But we'll see how well you can keep up!" Zelda smirked, and shot again.

As the two bantered and exchanged quips, alternating who went first for each target, King Dorephan sidled up to Link. "Sir Link, will you not partake in anything this day?" he began. "As the new Lord Guardian, you have a duty to impress other nobility with feats of skills!" he laughed, clapping Link on the back.

Link smiled sheepishly. "Ah, well, everyone who wanted to do something here already has something to do," he began. "I didn't think it would be fair of me to challenge someone who may already be tired from their previous contest, your Majesty," Link finished. _Phew! A diplomatic way out of that,_ Link thought to himself proudly.

King Dorephan nodded sagely. "Ah, true. I suppose some old fossils like Daphnes and I wouldn't have much stamina as compared to you." He laughed as Link hurriedly tried to stipulate that that was _not_ what he intended to say, and merely gestured towards Sidon and Zelda. "Still, one of them would probably relish the chance to measure against you!"

Link rubbed the back of his head while attempting to hide his grimace. "That's probably true, your Majesty, but I don't wish to… overly trouble them. Besides-" he continued, patting his sword, "I'm more of a… melee fighter myself."

At that, King Dorephan smiled, a gleam shining within his eyes. "Oho? What kind of weapon do you use, Sir Link?"

Link thought for a moment. "Well, I prefer my sword over all else, but I can hold my own with just about anything I think," he said, thinking. "I-"

"Excellent!" The King interrupted, clapping Link on his back again. "In that case, I know just the person to have a little spar with!" Turning, the King dragged Link around until he could see Mipha over to the side, still watching the archery contest with King Daphnes. "Mipha! Come here, if you please," the Zora King exclaimed, gesturing her over. Link paled. He couldn't seriously be thinking-

"Yes, Father?" Mipha asked curiously, tilting her head to the side. She gave a brief nod in Link's direction as well.

King Dorephan gestured to Link. "Why don't you show the modest Lord Guardian how the finest Zora warrior fights?" he asked bluntly, folding his arms.

Mipha looked aghast, taking a step back in surprise. "F-Father! I-I… er, that is… I-It wouldn't be proper!" she squeaked out.

King Dorephan was unmoved. "Many have called your talents with the Lightscale Trident unmatched, correct daughter?" Mipha nodded, still looking worried. "Then all the more reason to prove it now! The greatest warrior in all of Hyrule stands among us today, and our pride cannot let him go unchallenged."

Link raised a finger in protest. "Your Majesty, I-"

"B-Be that as it may, Father" Mipha stuttered, seemingly oblivious to Link's attempts to correct the record, "I… I am not properly dressed for such a duel!" She gestured to her modest dress she wore. "Archery for Zelda is one thing, but-"

The King tutted. "We stand in a castle, daughter mine. I am certain a suitable garment for you can be found. Are you quite finished?" the King asked. "I realize you dislike partaking in contests, but humor your Father this much. After all, we depart tomorrow night, and Goddesses know when another thrilling opportunity will present itself," the King requested, walking up to his daughter and placing a hand on her shoulder.

Mipha looked conflicted as she looked up to her Father. Link himself was debating whether to assure the King no need existed for such a battle, but before he could utter a word Mipha responded. "…If that is what you wish, Father, then I shall endeavor to deliver," she said resignedly. The two began to walk off, no doubt going to search for something suitable for Mipha to use.

Link opened his mouth to protest, before thinking again and shutting his objections. It would not do to repeatedly protest against visiting monarchs, he supposed, and it _had_ been a while since someone challenged him to a good fight (though he supposed the assassins did count for something). Still, he turned to King Daphnes behind him, who held up his hand in anticipation. "I believe it to be an excellent idea, Link. After this archery contest, we will all eagerly watch." Link slumped his shoulders, his final door out shut. "Of course, your Majesty."

 _Thwap… CRACK!_

Sharply, Link turned his head at the noise and glanced at the final archery target, where he noticed an arrow protruding from another arrow on the bullseye. Sidon laughed, cracking his knuckles as he placed his bow to the side. "Well, Princess, quite a thrilling match! But, I'm afraid I've won this time!" He laughed.

Zelda, for her part, shook her head in frustration. "If only I had done the same to your arrows earlier… It seems I am a bit out of practice…" She placed her bow to the side as well. "Next time, Sidon, you will not be as fortunate!"

Sidon simply laughed and began to walk back to the others, who gave a modest round of applause. "Oh- Where's Mipha and Father?" Sidon asked in confusion, looking around.

Daphnes coughed. "Why, she's preparing for the next event of course!" His eyes twinkled.

Sidon cocked his head, placing a hand at his chin and thinking. "Next event? Who…?"

Zelda's eyes widened, and she turned to look at Link, who remained stiff and unaffected. "Oh, _please_ tell me Link and Mipha will spar!" She turned to her father, who laughed and nodded his head. "Though, it did take a bit of persuasion on both sides," he winked.

Link groaned internally.

* * *

"…Is there a particular weapon you wish to see me use, your Majesty?" Link inquired to King Dorephan. They had gathered at the same place both Kings had dueled earlier, and right now Link was examining the weapons available to him. "I am proficient in most forms of combat."

Dorephan chuckled. "I leave that up to you, Sir Link."

Link thought for a few moments, before drawing his sword and picking up a modestly sized shield. "These ought to be fine," he said, turning and facing his opponent. Princess Mipha had chosen to use a spear, as the Hylian army had no tridents available, and had amazingly found some kind of Zora-made armor hidden within the castle store rooms. The material shone with a brilliant blue color, highlighting the silver pauldrons and engraving around the edges, and whenever Mipha moved each link slid past one another seamlessly, like scales. It was a truly beautiful piece of work.

"W-Will you not use any armor, Sir Link?" Mipha timidly asked, holding her spear with the tip downwards. She seemed nervous, though Link supposed that was only expected.

In response, Link thumped his chest twice. "The Lord Guardian uniform already has chainmail underneath the cloth," he replied, settling into a ready position. "It should be enough for this match."

Mipha nodded, before grabbing her spear with two hands and settling into her ready position as well. Prince Sidon stood in the middle of the field. "Shall we go for three hits, then?" he asked in good nature, raising his hand.

"Wait!" Dorephan interrupted. "These people are far younger than us; how about a battle until someone yields?" he asked, though his tone suggested it was not a question.

Sidon visibly hesitated, turning to his sister. Mipha only nodded, gripping her spear more tightly. As Sidon turned to Link, Link replied, "If that is what his Majesty wishes to see, I cannot object," _though I can complain on the inside._ He turned to meet Zelda's eyes, which were unreadable. _Thanks for the support!_

"Then… let us begin!" Sidon said, making a sweeping motion with his hands and jumping out of the way. Mipha immediately drove forward, jumping and extending her spear to try and catch Link off guard. Link barely managed to block in time. _Wow, I did not think Mipha was that aggressive,_ he thought, before jumping over a low sweep and rolling away to a safer position. _Goddesses, it's like another person!_

They stood for a moment, measuring each other up, before Mipha suddenly sprinted forward and began a flurry of jabs with her spear. In response, Link batted aside one of her jabs and quickly drove forward, intending to get in close and minimize the usefulness of the spear. However, he only had time to give a rough shove with his shield before being forced to duck underneath Mipha's retaliatory swing, giving her enough time to jump out of the way.

 _Agile…_ Link thought, sweat beginning to accumulate on his body. _I'll have to predict her movement ahead of time if I want a chance._

They began to circle each other slowly. Link had his shield and sword raised, ready to intercept any spear attacks, while Mipha had her spear pointed at Link. _Time to go on the offense and see her reaction_ Link thought, suddenly sprinting forward and swinging with his sword. Mipha dodged back and to the side, while at the same time jabbing her spear into Link's midsection. Link grunted, thankful for the chainmail protecting him, and swung at Mipha's hand holding the spear. However, she had already moved behind him and drove her spear again towards Link's exposed backside.

It was only instinct that saved him as he quickly jumped to the side and rolled away. _That was too close,_ Link thought, wiping sweat from his forehead. _But I think I get the feel of her style now… Dodge over all else._ For her part, Mipha didn't seem to be having any trouble. She wasn't breathing heavily, nor could Link see any sign of fatigue. _She's not even using her regular weapon and she's still really good…_ Link thought, before his eyes widened and he blocked another jab from Mipha. _Ok… predict her dodge. Predict her dodge. Predict-_

He swung to Mipha's right, and she ducked underneath to move even more to Link's right, slamming the blunt end of her spear into Link's midriff as she went. _Huh, was not expecting that,_ he thought, the air forced out of him. However, he reacted by kicking out, clipping Mipha's side and sending her retreating back for a bit. _Predict her dodge. Predict her dodge._

Link went on the offensive, not giving any time for Mipha to think. He repeated a similar swing to before, prompting Mipha to again move back and to the side. This time, however, Link's shield blocked her attack on his side. _Now, the back,_ Link thought, rightly predicting Mipha's next move. As she jabbed her spear towards him again, he executed a perfectly timed backflip, crossing his sword and shield so as not to hurt himself. _Please work…_ he prayed as time seemed to slow down. He hoped beyond hope Mipha had committed herself a bit to this jab, so she wouldn't have time to move away.

He landed a bit lopsided, his foot on the one thing he wanted to land on: the front of Mipha's spear, driving the point into the ground. As the small audience gasped in appreciation, he quickly swung the flat end of his sword and sharply rapped one of Mipha's hands holding the spear, prompting a small gasp of pain and an instinctual release. Unfortunately, his twisted body made balance difficult, and Mipha exploited that by kicking out and making him roll to the side, freeing her spear. Quickly, Link jabbed with his sword before Mipha could regain her previous form. Miraculously, she deflected his jab even with only one hand holding on to the spear.

Link was not going to let her have time to recover, however. He pushed relentlessly, batting away at Mipha who desperately attempted to block each swing. Just when he thought he had her, however, she drove her free elbow into his exposed chest, prompting a powerful shield push in return. _Ow… ok, that hurt,_ he gasped, watching Mipha get up and recover. _And I almost had her too…_

Again, they began to circle each other, both breathing heavily. Link felt like time itself was going slower, a feeling all too familiar to him whenever he seemed to battle challenging opponents. _There's a pattern here… I just need to find it._

Mipha, with her reach advantage, drove forward again and jabbed. Link reacted almost instinctively, allowing the spear to come dangerously close to hitting him before being batted away by his shield, exposing Mipha for a devastating swing to her midriff. She gasped in pain, but her armor seemed to absorb most of Link's strength since she recovered quickly and tried to jab Link's side. He ducked, and the two broke off again.

Link lowered his shield slightly. "Are you alright? I'm afraid I may have gotten caught up in the heat of battle, with that last swing." _Don't need an injured monarch on my first week._

Mipha nodded, allowing a smile to come to her face. "Yes, do not worry. The armor protected me quite well." Link nodded, smiling in return, before returning to his position and sprinting forward. Instead of dodging this time, however, Mipha retaliated with a flurry of jabs, which Link tried to parry with his sword.

 _CLING!_

Link's sword went flying, but Mipha's jabs were still coming. _Just great,_ he thought. Link was fast, dodging and blocking many of her attacks, but every nick and cut along his shoulders, arms, and neck made their presence known as she continued her onslaught. "Yield!" Mipha yelled, and Link noticed that though she continued attacking, her aim shifted after he lost his sword from vital areas to other, less important areas. It was still, after all, a friendly sparring match. _Still,_ _I will NOT yield,_ Link thought viciously, and time slowed perceptibly for him. He focused on the one object in front of him: the spear. _I will NOT!_

In one fluid motion, Link grabbed the spear near its neck with his right hand, giving Mipha enough pause for him to forcefully pull the spear—with her attached to it—towards him. His shield came forward, aiming for- _Whoops, not the neck_ Link thought, slightly adjusting his grip. _Not going for the kill here, after all_ he thought in relief, slamming her chest area and causing her to lose her balance and fall onto the ground, gasping for air. Without pause, Link straddled her and brought his shield to her neck, his right hand drawn back into a fist. "Yield?" he gasped, pressing his shield into her just slightly. Mipha made to stab Link with her spear, but he punched the ground near her left cheek, causing her to pause. "Yield!" _I don't want to go for that face,_ Link thought. Her teeth were bared at him—a shocking sight for someone normally so timid—but soon she slumped, defeated. "…I yield," she replied.

Link smiled, getting off of her and extending his hand to help her up. "It was a good match, your Highness" he laughed, shaking her hand after she got up. "I didn't realize just how skilled you were… I shudder to imagine you with your proper weapon."

Mipha laughed, kneeling down and grabbing Link's cap and handing it to him- it seems it fell off at some point in the match. "Likewise, Sir Link. Hyrule is truly blessed to have you defending its Princess." Link bowed in acquiescence, taking his hat and placing it firmly on his head.

The sounds of applause reached his ear, and Sidon spoke first. "You beat sister?! Ho! Incredible!" He flashed his toothy smile and gave a thumbs up. "I most definitely wouldn't have lasted as long though, Mipha, so don't feel down!"

"Indeed," King Dorephan spoke, clasping his daughter by the shoulders. "You both fought admirably. A true testament to your kingdoms!"

Link placed his shield and Mipha's spear back into their respective racks as everyone began to chatter. His minor wounds were bothering him, but he was more annoyed at the damage to his uniform than anything. _How much do these things even co- Wait, right, I don't even buy these things,_ he thought, laughing to himself as he saw a new uniform waiting inside the armory.

He soon joined the rest of the royals, silently falling in place next to Zelda. "…I am impressed, Sir Link," Zelda began. "Though I have seen you fight before, this was… another level."

Link bowed his head accordingly. "It was a close fight. As you saw, her Highness landed most of the hits on me," he extended his arms. "But, that doesn't always mean a win."

Zelda glanced his way. "Yes… Shouldn't you get those treated, by the way? They were a bit numerous…"

Link chuckled. "These? No, I'll be fine. I've suffered far worse."

Zelda looked disapprovingly at him, but eventually shrugged. "Still, an impressive fight nonetheless. Father might have been on to something when he appointed you…" she ended cheekily.

"Indeed Sir Link!" Sidon suddenly interjected, falling into step next to Zelda. "Why, I'm sure Mipha would simply enjoy another stimulating battle with you!" He flashed his toothy smile again.

Link chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "Of course. It would be an honor," he replied genuinely. He swore he saw Mipha turn a richer shade of crimson when he said those words.

* * *

For the rest of the day Link followed Zelda around the palace. She and Mipha had tea together, placing Link far enough away to ensure he couldn't hear a word, and eventually the day drew to a close. Link guided Zelda back to her room, exchanging a bit of banter here and there, before he too turned to retire for the night.

"A moment, Sir Link."

He turned again, present of the soldiers standing guard. "Yes, your Highness?" he asked patiently.

"…As you know, Prince Sidon beat me today in archery. Therefore, I require someone to help me practice again. I'm sure you have great skill with the bow as well, so once a week we will have archery practice," Zelda said, gazing expectedly at Link.

Link bowed slightly. "Of course. Any preferred day?"

"Friday. The evening, preferably, since that is when I used to practice," she said, smiling.

Link nodded, returning her smile. "Of course. Have a good night, your Highness."

Zelda sniffed. "…You as well, Sir Link," she replied, shutting the door behind her.

Link returned to his quarters, finding Princess Zelda's schedule for the next day inside his room. The only words were _LAND GIVING CEREMONY._ Chuckling, Link put on his sleeping clothes and rinsed his face: the cuts had started to heal over, but he wanted to make sure no dried blood remained on his face before sleep.

As he lay on his back, Link smiled. _Not even a week, and I've fought royals of another land for fun… what did I get into?_ he thought, turning onto his side. _Were other Lord Guardians like this? Or maybe the royal family is always surrounded by these kind of things… I wonder… What kind of future awaits me…?_

* * *

 **A/N: I'm back! School did its best to kill me, but I came out alive after a grueling year. Sorry its taken this long though, I even missed this story's one-year anniversary... Ah well. It'll finish when it finishes. Onto the reviews! And thanks for continuing to read, follow, and favorite!**

 **P.S. I have decided on the route I want the story to take, but I won't tell :) Can't be giving away too much!**

 **Luchux: Nah, you're good man. This is my first story, so I listen to pretty much any feedback people give me! Thanks!**

 **Min: Thanks for the input!**

 **Awakening5: Thanks! Definitely confident in what I decided :)**

 **pikachung03: Thanks for the review!**

 **Duke Nukem: I wonder... is gum even in Hyrule?! Thanks for the review!**

 **Jus come: Thanks for your input!**

 **Kersplunk: Thanks for the review!**

 **AnriMia24: Thanks for your input, and for the motivation!**

 **animeandgamerlover2: Thanks for your answer!**

 **dragonfighter11: Thanks for your input!**

 **ZendoZebra: Thanks for the motivation and answer!**

 **Guest: I see your review got cut off, but I got the gist of it so thanks!**

 **oghren: Thanks for the motivation! And I'll definitely consider Daphnes death... but in the future. maybe.**

 **Inheritance1990: Thanks for the feedback, definitely gonna take it to heart. And thanks for the motivation as well!**

 **Guest (who reviewed all the other chapters): Your feedback was amazing, it honestly pushed me to write even more (ironic, I guess, since the chapter came out super late haha). Thanks so much!**

 **kansa: Thanks for the feedback, and I'll be sure to try and keep things interesting as it comes along!**

 **Whelp, a lot of thanking above, but it's well deserved. I figured out where I want to go with the story, and you all really do motivate me. But, well, in the end I'm a pretty lazy person and uni doesn't help things either, so it's slow work regardless. Hope you all stay tuned for the next chapter! Thanks again,**

 **TheLegendofBatman out.**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"What do you mean, _move this number?!_ It's supposed to be here!" Aryll pointed to her paper.

"Well, yes, but-" Link sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Aryll's homework was proving… difficult to explain. "…Ok, so… to do this problem, we need to get that letter" he pointed to one side "over to that letter," he said, moving his hand, "and combine them."

Aryll slowly nodded. "Ok… But how do you move letters? And what do you mean by combine? Like, I kind of get what you're saying because my teacher was kind of saying the same thing, but it's still weird-" she continued chatting.

Link sighed, wondering how best to explain. "Just… gimme a sec, Aryll," he replied, massaging his head. He and Aryll were sitting in his—yes, his—dining hall. The previous Friday, after wishing the Zora family a royal farewell, King Daphnes had ordered the servants to prepare a carriage for him and Zelda, and of course expected Link to accompany them. "The Hateno area is quite nice this time of year," he said with a twinkle in his eye as he climbed in. One ceremony later, Link was now officially a Lord with his own land and estate. And a considerable pay, of course. Though not nearly as large as Hyrule Castle and its surrounding land, Link nevertheless had a considerable manor at his disposal- far larger than anything else he had lived in before.

Just then, Link heard the heavy wooden doors to the hall groan open. He turned his head to see Zelda entering, wearing a simple blue and gold full-sleeve shirt and coffee colored pants- things fit for a journey outside. He stood, pulling out a chair for her. "Good afternoon, Zelda," he said cheerfully, moving to Aryll's other side so that she sat between him and Zelda.

"Hi Zelda!" Aryll waved cheerily.

"Good afternoon, Link, Aryll" Zelda replied in kind, taking a seat. She glanced down at Aryll's paper, frowning. "Arithmetic? Wait… What kind of method are they teaching you?!" She took the parchment, holding it up to the light incredulously. "Tsk! There's a much easier way, you know. Here-" she drew Aryll closer and began to teach her.

Link sighed in relief and excused himself from the table. He walked over to the large, sunlit windows and gazed out to the land- _his_ land. Link technically only owned the immediate surrounding area around his estate, but he already considered this whole place a second home. Hateno Village was a relatively new settlement, with more and more people moving in every day. No doubt the King thought Link's presence here would boost the morale of the people and attract even more people to the area to farm crops and expand the town. His manor was relatively secluded from the main area, situated a bit higher than the rest and having a modest amount of land around it that served little purpose except as decoration.

He had a few servants roaming the halls and a few groundskeepers tidying the immediate area around the manor, but generally it wasn't crowded. Nothing like the Castle's bustling environment- or when the King was visiting Link. _Strange that Daphnes had to leave so abruptly,_ Link thought to himself, yawning. _Must be something extremely important._

Link turned and rested his back against the window, watching Zelda and Aryll tackle the problems on the paper. _At least Zelda and Aryll keep me company_. _I think, when Aryll gets a bit older and can live by herself, this'll be a nice place for her_. _I may not be around that often since I'll be with Zelda—_ the thought gave him more pleasure than he cared to admit— _but perhaps Father could retire and live here as well- assuming he ever chooses a new Sage._

Zelda was talking animatedly and teaching Aryll, and Aryll was slowly nodding and talking back. She seemed to be getting it, because as time went on Zelda spoke less and Aryll worked faster- until she finished a half hour later. "Done!" she beamed, dropping her pencil on the table. "Can we go to Hateno now?" she asked, turning to Link, then Zelda.

"If Zelda-" Link began.

"Of course we can go!" Zelda responded, getting up and taking Aryll's hand. "And visit the forest and lake nearby- I heard it's amazing at this time!"

Aryll nodded eagerly in agreement. "I want to buy things too, so we should shop too Zelda," Aryll said animatedly as she led the way to the stables. "And get lunch in town! I heard-"

Link hurried to keep up, his protests about a forest visit dying on his lips. Because Hateno was a relatively new village, it was more remote than most- meaning it had few safeguards against danger. Most notably, it didn't have enough dedicated trade routes to sustain a garrison. He worried about those Gerudo rebels- even if Commander Russell seemed to have the situation under control. Their guerilla tactics made them difficult to predict, after all.

As they reached the stables, Link approached Grante, the stable master, who was currently brushing down a horse. "Hello Grante," Link began, causing the stable master to turn and bow slightly. "Could we get a carriage? We're heading into Hateno for today." Grante nodded, and disappeared around the side of the stables with the horse in tow.

Zelda turned to Link, frowning. "A carriage? That is far too ostentatious for this jaunt down. Two horses would have been enough."

Link smiled. "Don't worry, Zelda. It's pretty simple- a wooden cart with seats, really. I think you and Aryll will like it." Zelda turned with a huff, but she didn't seem to be frowning anymore.

A short while later, Link heard the unmistakable sound of a horse and carriage arriving, and soon saw Grante turning the corner. It was as he said- the carriage was a glorified wooden cart, with a seat at the very front for the driver and a bench a little ways back for two or three passengers. There were a few carvings, such as the seal of the royal family, imprinted upon the side, but other than that it was rather unbuckled his sword as he prepared to board, placing the weapon on the front seat as Grante hopped off.

"Thanks, Grante," Link said, nodding. "Have all the horses been taken care of today?" Grante nodded, smiling. "Then feel free to take the day off and enjoy this weather," Link smiled. "If you have nothing else you wish to finish, that is." Grante grinned, quickly bowing to Zelda and Aryll before disappearing.

"Not one for talking, is he?" Zelda remarked as Link helped her into the carriage.

Link laughed. "Yeah, it was unnerving when first I met him," Link began, picking Aryll up and placing her into the carriage next to Zelda. "But he's not so bad."

Link hopped up into the driver's seat and took the reins. "Master Link! Princess Zelda!" he heard a voice cry out. Turning, he spotted one of his servants scurrying towards him, carrying a basket. Link raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Hello Merula," Link said as the servant girl reached them, quickly curtsying to both Link and Zelda. "What brings you here?"

She held out the basket to Link. "Um… we heard you and the Princess were heading out to Hateno to visit the lake- so we packed you all your lunches in this!" she smiled hesitatingly. "And some chocolates for Aryll."

Aryll gasped in delight, and Link took the basket from Merula. Internally, he was a bit shocked—and impressed—that they heard of and acted so quickly on this impromptu trip they planned. _We may just spend the rest of the day by the lake at this rate._ "Thank you, Merula," Link smiled, placing the basket next to his sword. "Very kind of you all."

She beamed. "We live to serve, Master Link," bowing slightly to him and Zelda before turning to leave.

"Wait!" Link said. "We probably won't be back until late tonight, so if you and the rest are finished with cleaning and your other duties, feel free to take the rest of the day off. I told Grante the same thing," he finished.

Merula turned and waved from the door. "Ok, Master Link! I'll tell everyone," she yelled, leaving.

Link shuddered slightly and ordered the horse forwards. "'Master Link' is too weird for me," he muttered to himself. He turned to look at Zelda and Aryll, who had begun talking. "I planned for us to get lunch in Hateno, but with this food, how about lunch at the lake instead?" he asked, directing the question at both of them. "Or perhaps some shopping first?"

Almost on cue, Link heard Aryll's stomach rumble. "Lunch it is, then," Link laughed. Zelda joined in as Aryll looked on, abashed. "I think I know the way as well, if that map I studied last night was accurate."

* * *

The weather really was serene at this time. The sun warmed Link's body as they rode on, the wind tousled his hair, and the clouds that lazily swam across the sky gave everything a peaceful feeling. _I suppose that's why I gave in so easily… Geez, I'm already getting soft._ As Link made his way past the immediate area of his manor, the path widened until he saw all of Hateno stretched out below him to his right and mountains far in the distance to his left and ahead, with the path winding slightly downwards in both directions. Link took the left path, since that would be closer to the forest and lake they had in mind.

Even if the weather made everything seem peaceful, Link didn't drop his guard. While Zelda and Aryll chatted happily in the back, Link's eyes roamed everywhere- from the cliff edge above to the trees below. If any bandits or would-be assassins tried to jump him, he'd be ready. _I should buy a bow in Hateno, however._ He thought to himself, grimacing. _Can't believe I left my kit at the Castle… And I can't believe they didn't have a full armory at my place!_ He pushed his hair back. _Well, with my new pay, I'm sure it won't take long to outfit it all._

Eventually, the path twisted and turned until it came to the entrance of a forest. Link forged onwards, enjoying the shade the tall trees provided while simultaneously observing every nook and cranny he could spot. The path got narrow in a few places, and the horse was spooked when a snake suddenly woke up and slithered away, but fortunately they made it to the lake without any major problems. Link hopped off and helped Zelda and Aryll down, before taking the basket and his sword and following them to the watery edge.

Beautiful was really the best word for the whole area. The lake was crystal clear and highly secluded, with an immense cliff wall blocking one side of it and the forest surrounding it on all the other sides. A small waterfall poured into the lake from the top of the cliff, and the mist cooled the air dramatically and produced shimmering colors. Aryll had already taken her shoes off to dip her feet in the water, and she seemed enamored by the multitude of fish that quickly darted away when she came close. The immediate area surrounding the lake was filled with rocks of different sizes and colors, so Link found a shaded, grassy area not too far from Zelda and Aryll and placed the basket down. Turning, he found that Zelda had taken her boots off as well and was playing in the water with Aryll.

Link squinted. _Are they… trying to grab a fish?_ He laughed to himself. _Oh goddesses…_

"Aren't you guys hungry?!" he yelled, waving his arms. His own stomach growled. "Cause I'm starving!"

Link opened the basket and prepared to take out whatever Merula and the others had packed. He extricated the blanket they had thoughtfully packed and spread it across the grass, before looking further inside. He found a large assortment of veggie and fish sandwiches, along with a healthy assortment of fruit wrapped tightly in cloth. Further, he found two water flasks and a few utensils. _Gotta make sure to return these-_

"What's for lunch, big bro?" Aryll said, plopping down next to him on the blanket. "I want the chocolate," she said, looking into the basket.

Link quickly moved it away from her. "Nope! You're going to have at least two sandwiches and some fruit," he said, glaring at Aryll. She glowered. "…Then maybe a piece of chocolate," Link acquiesced, unable to stop the smile creeping onto his face. He handed Aryll a sandwich. "Try this. It looks like Hyrule bass."

Aryll sniffed at the sandwich. "I hate fish," she huffed, but nevertheless she began to eat. Zelda sat down beside her and took a sandwich from Link, beginning to eat as well. The three quietly munched on their lunch, and Link allowed the ambient sounds around him to flow. The soothing cascade of the waterfall, the sound of rustling grass and breeze, and the cacophony of multiple critters all came together into a strange and unknowable harmony. He grabbed another sandwich after finishing his first—vegetarian by the looks of this one—and continued eating.

After much coaxing, Link managed to convince Aryll to eat half of her other sandwich before giving her the chocolate she so desired, and once she was finished she zoomed off to play near the lake again. Link lay down, full, and closed his eyes for a second. If he ever took an extended break from his post, for whatever reason, he'd like to come here again. Maybe take a nice nap as Aryll played.

His eyes shot open. _Unfortunately, I always have to stay alert._ He yawned, stretching and sitting up again. His right hand was itching— _probably a mosquito bite or something,_ he figured, scratching it absentmindedly. Turning, he spotted Zelda getting up, the wind making her hair fly everywhere. Link also rose, grabbing his sword and fastening it to his side before following Zelda to the water's edge. Aryll happily waved them over.

* * *

The next few hours passed by in a blur of activity. At first, Link was content to simply watch and observe from afar, but after Zelda and Aryll decided it was fun to soak him to his core, he had to get revenge. The lake was big, but Link was fast- first, he unceremoniously caught Aryll and tossed her (playfully) into the water, making sure she came up doused head to foot. Then, with a malicious smile on his face, he turned to Zelda-

Who was running up to him with the picnic basket- dripping with water.

"Hey- AUGH!" Link yelled, covering his face as best as possible as Zelda threw the basket on him. "I'M COMING FOR YOU, ZELDA!" he laughed, filling the basket.

"Not if you can't catch me!" Zelda laughed back, running away. Her behavior was so far removed from the Princess Link had grown used to, Link had to laugh again.

Gathering the basket in his arms, he began to sprint full speed towards Zelda. "You can't ruuuun!" he taunted as he quickly caught up. Her laugh rang in his ears.

By the time the sun was nearing the horizon, not a single one of them remained dry.

Link sighed, gathering up the remaining picnic supplies (including the leftovers Zelda had dumped out) as Zelda and Aryll boarded the cart. They'd stayed far longer than they had originally planned, which pretty much pushed shopping out of the agenda for today. Still, Link wasn't complaining- fewer things for him to worry about, at the very least.

"Ready to go?" Link asked as he handed Zelda and Aryll the picnic basket. "You haven't forgotten anything Aryll? Shoes? Socks?"

Aryll rolled her eyes. "No big brother, I got everything!" She shivered. "Now can we go home? I'm going to freeze!" Zelda pulled her in close, smiling.

"Alright, seagull," Link laughed, climbing onto his seat. Combined with his wet clothes, the pleasant night air was getting a bit too chilly for him as well. With a whistle, he began to drive the cart through the woods and back home.

 _Damn, I can barely see anything in this._ The sun had yet to set, but the thick trees made sure very little light found its way into the dense, wooded area. Link could just barely make out the path ahead of him- and something was making him uneasy. His right hand flared up in irritation again, and Link strained his eyes and ears to see or hear anything out of the ordinary.

He could hear Zelda and Aryll breathing softly in the back- just about ready to doze off, Link figured. The steady clip-clop of his horse and the creaking of his cart continued onwards, disturbing the silence the forest naturally provided. He could feel the wind blow gently against his damp skin, and blow bits of fallen leaves across his path.

Aside from that, the forest kept its silence.

And yet… Link was still uneasy.

Again, his right hand flared, and Link absentmindedly scratched it. _I'm sure I'll feel better once we leave._ He urged the horse to go a bit faster.

The wind tousled his hair.

… _fwip…_

Without warning, Link's horse gave a mighty roar of pain and increased its speed, nearly throwing Link off his seat in the process. "Woah!" he yelled, trying to calm the horse. "Easy!"

Within a few seconds, however, the horse stumbled, frothing at its mouth and breathing heavily as it slowly sank to its knees… before keeling over. _Dead?!_ Link wondered, his eyes widening. _Ho- Nevermind how, just get the Princess out of here!_

Link grabbed his sword and scurried to the back, where Zelda and Aryll were looking around- abruptly jerked out of their near-slumber. "Get out, now!" Link hissed, opening the cart and grabbing Zelda's arm. "Something's-"

Link's ears twitched. "Get down!" he roared, roughly grabbing Zelda and slamming both of them down to the hard, dirt path. The air was knocked out of his body, but he could hear the unmistakable sounds of projectiles hitting the inside of the cart- just where he had been standing moments ago.

Link groaned, wasting no time in unsheathing his sword and standing up. "RUN!" he gasped, looking to both Zelda and Aryll. "Back to the lake! I'll meet you there!"

Zelda's eyes widened. "Link, behind-!"

Without waiting for her to finish, Link spun around and met the blade of a hooded figure with his own. The assassin growled, leaping backwards and assuming a ready position. Link's ears twitched again. _Six, maybe eight at most,_ Link estimated, based on the increasing noise around and above him. _Surrounded._

Link gestured behind him as he held his sword out to the assassin. "Get under the cart," he whispered as calmly as he could. "Stick behind the wheels, it'll be harder to hit you with whatever they used to get the horse." He heard scuffling behind him as Zelda and Aryll obeyed.

Link exhaled, grasping his weapon with both hands and drawing it in close. _If only I'd brought my shield… stupid!_ "…Gerudo, I guess?" he asked the masked figure in front of him. The figure was obscured in too much shadow to tell its gender, but Link could guess all the same.

No response. Sweat dripped from Link's brow. _…I'll have to stick close to the cart at all times… Try to intercept anyone who wants to kill Zelda._ He gripped the sword tighter. _Or Aryll._ Without a word, Link dashed forward.

 _Fwip! Fwip! Fwip!_

Link's eyes flared, and he swung his entire body—along with his sword—clockwise, destroying all three projectiles the perched assassins had shot at him. Seeing an opportunity, the first assassin rushed towards Link and swung to kill-

 _Wham!_

Link's kick to the assassin's head carried all the momentum behind his spin, and the assassin dropped her sword and fell limp to the ground. Link stumbled on landing, but drove his sword into the assassin's prone body with ease. _One down._

He turned back to the cart- only to find two assassins blocking his path. His ears twitched: two others dropped in behind him and unsheathed their swords. _Ah come on,_ he grimaced, readying himself again.

Link rushed towards the waiting enemies in front of him. His eyes were furious as he ducked underneath one of their swings and blocked the other. Using his free arm, he drove his elbow—hard—into the ribcage of the assassin that missed, before pushing off of the other assassin and swinging his sword in a wide circle around him- causing the all the killers to jump backwards cautiously. _Oh yeah, they're Gerudo alright._

Link now had his back to the cart, and three poised assassins in front of him. The elbowed one was slowly recovering as well, behind her comrades. _If I extend this fight, I'll lose all my energy._ Sweat trickled down Link's temple. _I'll have to end this quickly… but how?_

He inhaled. Without warning, he lunged and chucked his sword with all his strength, causing it to embed itself into the chest of the middle assassin in the blink of an eye. The other two recoiled in surprise, and Link took advantage of that to rush forwards and grab the rightmost assassin by the throat and bring her to the ground. _Faster!_ He raised his arm and punched the assassin, feeling his knuckles cracking—perhaps breaking—from the force behind the blow. Quickly, he rolled underneath the other assassin's swing and ran towards the recovering assassin, who was now right in front of him.

The enemy couldn't raise her sword in time to stop Link from ramming into her shoulder first, sending her flying back. Without a moment's hesitation, Link grabbed the assassin's blade and turned to face the uninjured assassin behind him, his knuckles flaring in protest.

The enemy swung, and Link parried the blow with one of his own, stumbling a bit as his grip weakened. She swung towards Link's legs, and Link took the opportunity to jump over the swing and back up, briefly looking over his shoulder to see if the tackled assassin had recovered yet.

" _LINK!"_

Link's eyes widened. He could barely make out a scuffle near the cart with his eyes, but he could definitely hear Zelda's scream.

And Aryll's cries.

"NO!" Link roared, rushing forwards. _Not Aryll, Not Aryll, Not Aryll, Not-_

The assassin in front of him took advantage of Link's distraction. With a flourish, she jabbed the blade straight towards Link's exposed left side.

Overcome by fury, Link grabbed the assassin's sword with his left hand and stopped her swing, immediately feeling indescribable pain blaze through his palm and forearm. With a roar, Link buried his own weapon deep into the woman's chest, before throwing the weapon he had grabbed into the shoulder of the recovering assassin behind him.

"ARYLL!" Link screamed, rushing towards the cart. Without breaking his sprint, he quickly extracted his own sword with a sickening squelch and ran towards the conflict. He could briefly make out someone running into the trees before coming upon Zelda, who was crying next to the cart.

"Your Highness!" Link began, looking around the cart. Zelda was hunched over, her body racked with sobs. "Are you hurt, Princess? Zelda?!" Link urged, shaking her gently.

"It's- it's Aryll," she hiccupped, trying to compose herself. "Th- They took her!"

Link froze, and his heart dropped into his stomach. The world itself seemed to turn gray, right before his eyes. Without a word, he rose to his full height and made to follow the kidnapper.

 _Wait- the area isn't secure,_ he hesitated, glancing to the two assassins he hadn't finished off. One was clutching at the sword Link had thrown into her shoulder, groaning, while the other still seemed to be unconscious from his punch.

 _Forget secure. Get Aryll!_ the other part of him rallied. _There's no point to anything if she's dead._

 _You have a duty to uphold._

 _A duty? Anything you did, you did for Aryll._

 _But no longer. Now you have the Princess—Zelda—to think of._

 _The Princess can wait. Your family, on the other hand, cannot._

 _Stay, for her!_

 _Run, for her!_

Link pulled at his hair in anguish. _Just… make a decision,_ he commanded himself. He glanced to Zelda, who seemed to have composed herself, then to the forest, then back again. _Make a decision! Make A DECISION!_

"Zel- Your Highness, I…" Link began, his throat dry. "I…"

"I understand," Zelda interrupted, simply. "Y- I order you to bring Aryll back."

"But-" Link began.

"We can debate all day over the benefits and harms of both ways," Zelda scowled, heading back underneath the cart. "As your Princess, I order you to leave!"

Link hesitated again. "You-"

"Go!" Zelda yelled. "I'll be fine." She looked up at Link, her eyes softening as she grabbed his arm. "Trust me."

Link met her gaze. "Thank you," he said breathlessly, before diving into the thick of the forest.

The assassin was careless- or perhaps Aryll was putting up a little fight. Either way, Link could clearly make out the broken branches and crushed leaves that highlighted the assassin's movements. Even to his relatively untrained eye, he could tell where they were heading.

"Aryll!" he yelled, slashing away at the foliage in front of him. His right hand was killing him, and his left forearm felt like it was on fire, but Link pushed those thoughts out of his head. "ARYLL!"

"LINK! LIN- MMPH!" Link could barely hear her reply, a bit to his right and ahead. He hacked away ruthlessly as he sprinted forwards.

"Argh! Stupid-" Link could make out a harsh voice ahead of him. "Damn it! How-"

Link gritted his teeth, forcing himself to move even faster. "ARYLL! KEEP FIGHTING!"

Muffled sounds of a struggle soon made their way to Link's ears, and his eyes began to make out a running figure in front of him. "Let her GO!"

The assassin cursed, grabbing her sword with one hand and Aryll with the other, turning to face Link. Aryll ceased struggling as the sword made its presence known against her neck.

Link stopped, breathing heavily. He pointed his sword towards the assassin, his eyes cold. "Let her go," he said, his voice a rasp. "And I'll let you live."

The assassin hesitated, before drawing the sword closer to Aryll. "…Your sister, Lord Guardian?" she asked, moving her sword gently across Aryll's neck. Aryll whimpered, her eyes glistening with tears. "We know the Princess has no siblings, after all."

Link quickly glanced at Aryll, before returning his gaze to the masked assassin. _From previous experience, they don't respond well to intimidation,_ he analyzed, gritting his teeth. _A challenge, then?_

"…The Princess, currently, is defenseless," Link began, dropping his sword. "However, your comrades are all dead, or unconscious." He held his arms out. "Kill me, and you'll get what you want. Leave the girl out of it, though," he growled, glaring at the assassin.

She hesitated yet again, thinking. "Furthermore," Link continued, "I'm injured in both arms." He waved his left arm slightly, wincing as the pain brought new fury. "This hand killed one of your comrades with her own sword, while this one," he waved his right arm slightly, "felled another one with a single punch." He shrugged. "Perhaps she's dead. After all, I didn't become the Lord Guardian because of weakness. If anything, your comrade was weak to fall so easily."

With a growl, the assassin threw Aryll aside and lunged at Link, intent on his death. Link didn't care if she thought she could kill him, or just jumped at his bait- because now he had a chance.

There was only one move Link could do in this situation. _Let it pass my arm… NOW!_ With lightning-fast reflexes, he grabbed the assassin's hand holding the blade and held tight, stopping the sword an inch from his chest. Link winced- the sword still sliced up the inside of his upper right arm pretty badly... But he was alive- much to the assassin's shock.

Pushing all his pain aside, Link brought his left fist down upon the assassin's hand, making her lose her grip, before turning her own sword around and driving it straight into her abdomen. She lurched back, still in shock, before falling over lifelessly. Link exhaled hard, and rushed to Aryll's limp body.

"Aryll? Aryll?! Please, say something," Link pleaded, kneeling next to her. He reached out to shake her. "Aryll, c'mon, please!" he begged.

She coughed, and Link sighed in relief. _Thank the goddesses._ "Big bro," she whimpered. "Is- are they-"

"Shh…" Link said, standing up. "We have to go now Aryll." _I need to bandage these wounds, get them both to safety._ "Can you walk?"

Slowly, Aryll sat up and nodded. "Then we can't lose a moment. C'mon!" he said, coaxing her up. He winced as she held onto his fingers.

Somehow, Link managed to make his way back to Zelda and the cart. "…Zelda?" he whispered, getting near. His mind was getting a bit foggy. "Zelda! I need help!"

He saw her emerge from beneath the cart. Aryll ran from Link into Zelda's waiting embrace, crying softly. As much as Link wanted to join, he knew he didn't have long. "Zelda, please, get the picnic basket out now," Link groaned, settling against the cart. "Please."

Sensing something was amiss, Zelda hurried over to the front of the cart and came back, basket in tow. "What-"

"Grab the blanket on top and cut it in half," Link breathed, reaching for his sword. _Shoot. I left it back there,_ he groaned. "I don't suppose you have a dagger or something on you?" he asked, closing his eyes in exasperation.

"No, but-" she began, getting up and moving around. Soon, she came back with one of the assassin's swords in hand, and began to clumsily cut the fabric in half. "This ought to do fine!"

Link opened his eyes, watching her. "Thanks," he breathed as she held out the two fabrics, "let me-" he groaned as he reached with his right. "I can wrap my left arm slowly, I think, but the right is another story." His hands fumbled as he slowly began wrapping his left hand and forearm.

As he was finishing up, he held his arm out to Zelda. "Can you tie that, please? Anything tight."

Zelda swallowed nervously, but she nevertheless took the pinched cloth from Link and tightly bound his wound. Link would have laughed- a dainty looking bow knot on top of his bloody arm. It looked so out of place- but it was far better than bleeding out.

After fumbling around for a few precious minutes, Zelda managed to tie up his upper right arm as well, with guidance from Link. It wasn't perfect, but it would hold and stem the bloodflow. "Great job," Link smiled, trying to remain calm. "Seagull, could I have some water?"

Aryll jerked out of her reverie, and ran over to the basket to fetch a flask. She raised the flask to Link's lips, and he drank thirstily from it until it was nearly empty. "Ok, great… now…" he began, licking his lips. "Now… we walk."

He rose to his legs, shakily. Zelda held Aryll's hand, and Link loosely grabbed the sword Zelda used to cut the blanket. "Wait here a moment," he said to them, walking slowly to the unconscious assassin a bit away. He drove the sword through the body, before extracting it and looking towards the other assassin with the sword in her shoulder. _Must have bled out,_ Link surmised, seeing how she had yanked the sword out before slumping over a few feet away. _I suppose Zelda would have preferred me to keep them alive, if possible… but I can't risk them following us and attacking again._

He returned to Zelda and Aryll. "I'm sorry…" he hesitated. "You know, for… well, let's just go," he said. He held out his left hand slightly to Zelda, who gripped it tightly. Link winced, but didn't say anything. "...Close your eyes, and don't open them until I say so," Link ordered, looking to both of them. They nodded, and Link began the arduous task of guiding them home.

 _Hylia,_ Link cursed, navigating through the dead bodies. _Home is closer than Hateno, but there's likely no one there to help us if we get attacked by reinforcements. However, the chances I'd make it to Hateno and recover without fail are far lower. At least I know where the red potions are at home,_ he grimaced. Red potions were a last resort- they saved you, true, but put you through unimaginable pain in order to knit your muscles back together and regrow your broken bones. Additionally, their side effects meant Link wouldn't be able to use his arms for a few days, if not longer given his injuries and the larger dose required. _Better than dying or permanently losing my arms, though._

They passed by the immediate area of the conflict, and Link told them they could open their eyes. Zelda's hand rested reassuringly in Link's, and that gave him enough strength to keep moving forward. "Aryll, are you-"

Suddenly, Link heard a commotion ahead of the path. Voices of different people were coming towards them, and fast. _Help, or…?_ He could hear both male and female voices, but he didn't want to risk it. "Quick, hide!" Link hissed, letting go of Zelda and readying himself. "We don't know if they're good or bad, but I'll see if they can help!"

Link assumed a ready position, his left arm hanging limp but his right arm holding up his sword. Soon after, he saw lights from lamps beginning to round the corner, and the frantic clip-clop gallop of horses made their way towards him, stopping as they saw him standing in the middle of the path. Link squinted- their lamps temporarily blinded him.

"Identify yourself!" Link barked, holding his sword aloft. His throat was still hoarse, but he had no doubt everyone heard him. His eyes flickered between the three riders leading the pack, before focusing on the rather large caravan behind them. _…Hylians? Armored… What?_

His eyes flicked back to the center rider, who had disembarked. "Stranger, I don't know how you're still standing after getting wounded like that," a rough yet familiar voice began, "but you better let us treat you before threatening us with that sword!"

Link's eyes widened, and he allowed his sword to drop with a dull thud. "…Commander Russell?" Link asked hesitantly, stopping the rider in his tracks. "It's me, Link- Lord Guardian."

A murmur ran through the caravan behind the commander, and Commander Russell whistled softly. "…Link? Hylia, you look… well, you look like a pack of rabid dogs used you like a chew toy!" His eyes widened. "Wait… where is…? Did the rebels-?!"

Link chuckled, wincing a bit as his chest squeezed in pain. "No, no, never under my watch," Link grinned painfully. He turned to the foliage at the side, where Zelda and Aryll had begun to step out. "Her Highness is completely safe, and unharmed" _Physically at least._

"Highness!" Commander Russell said reverently, rushing to her side. "We thought- well, your Father sent us here after- erm, in any case-"

"In any case," Zelda interrupted smoothly, "I believe Sir Link here is in dire need of medical attention!" She turned to Link, who bowed slightly- before stumbling. "Inform us of everything on the way to the manor."

Commander Russell quickly turned to the caravan—more like army—he had brought with him, gesturing to a few soldiers to help carry Link. "Of course your Highness! We are… simply relieved to have found you alive!"

* * *

As they made their way back to the estate (Commander Russell sent a few soldiers ahead to prep the infirmary for Link's arrival), Link's impromptu bandages were quickly changed and he was helped onto a horse along with another soldier to support him on the ride back. Zelda was given her own steed to ride, Aryll with her, and the trio listened as Commander Russell described the exact sequence of events that lead to their meeting.

King Daphnes had quickly left Hateno because a new report had come, hinting at a large cell of Gerudo rebels— perhaps their main base of operations. As they all discussed their plan of attack in Hyrule Castle, another spy's report arrived- uncovering an apparent assassination plot against the Princess and King themselves. Though unsure of the time window of such an attack, the King nevertheless sent Commander Russell and a small company of soldiers to Hateno post-haste to ensure Zelda's safety. They came to Hateno this evening, as luck had it. After much searching in the empty manor, they luckily found a quiet stablemaster taking a nap out back—and they were eventually able to discern where Princess Zelda and company had gone. They made their way down the path… only to find an extremely injured Link when they neared the lake.

"How many were there, exactly?" Commander Russell asked Link, keeping pace with his horse. "Our reports hinted at a planned, small infiltration."

Link nodded slightly. "There were about six assassins, Commander," he began. "I believe they sent that many because they thought the King was also here. They must have missed his departure somehow."

Commander Russell dropped into thought. "Yes, hmm… In any case, how did you defeat six assassins by yourself?!"

Link smiled slightly. "Just luck… and recklessness. I lost my sword," he said. "Threw it straight into one of them before charging headfirst."

The Commander shook his head. "Din, Link. What were you thinking?"

Link shrugged slightly—as much as his body could shrug, at least. "Well, it worked. We're alive."

He turned his head to look at Zelda and Aryll. Aryll was slumped against Zelda, sleeping, while Zelda scratched at her hand. She looked up and made eye contact with Link, smiling slightly before gently rubbing Aryll's head. Link smiled as well.

* * *

The next hour passed in a blur. Link was helped off his horse and into the infirmary, while Zelda and Aryll were escorted to their rooms. Commander Russell began setting up patrols and night shifts, and Link's wounds were examined. He gladly downed a spoonful of red potion, feeling the healing effect beginning to coarse slightly through his body, before his left hand and forearm were sutured. His right hand, bruised and battered from combat, was gently wrapped, and his upper arm was bandaged. All in all, Commander Russell's healers did an excellent job in fixing Link up- far better than he could do if he was alone.

Link drifted in and out of consciousness for the most part, especially when they began to stitch his left arm. After everything was finished, he barely had enough energy to turn in his infirmary bed. _Still, I could be dead,_ he thought to himself as he struggled to pull the white blanket up to his neck. _Or Aryll. Or Zelda. Thank the Goddesses…_

Suddenly, he heard a troupe of footsteps make their way in front of the infirmary door, and whispered conversation. Soon after, he heard the door creak open, and soft footsteps made their way to him. Link turned his head slowly to see Zelda making her way to him, clad in a royal and modest gown- and carrying Aryll.

"Princess," he whispered, struggling to sit up. "I'm so sorry, let me-"

Zelda made a shushing gesture with her hand, making Link freeze, and made her way to the cot adjacent to Link's. She gently (albeit awkwardly) placed Aryll down and tucked her in, before quietly making her way next to Link's bed with a small stool in hand.

Link looked at Aryll, who was breathing peacefully and seemed deep in slumber. "How's Aryll?" he asked. "She… I'm afraid that she's…"

Zelda sat down slowly, sighing. "She… well, she was really afraid, but she was also really tired… in the end, she finally fell asleep after crawling in with me." She turned to look at Aryll behind her. "…Then I decided to come down here with her, because it…" She shook her head. "Well, those windows made it feel too… open."

Link sighed, closing his eyes. "Thank you," he said gratefully. "I hope she wasn't bothering you too much."

"No, no, it's fine!" Zelda quickly interrupted. "I… also ne- enjoy, her company."

Link opened his eyes, looking at Zelda. She was rubbing her hand absentmindedly as she looked away. "Listen, Zelda- no, Princess," Link began. "I'm sorry you had to see me… you know. And then, even when I had the chance to let them go-" he swallowed— "I didn't. I know you would have shown mercy, but I-" he closed his eyes. "I don't think I could ever." His eyes felt prickly. "And then I abandoned you to go after Aryll-"

Zelda shook her head vigorously. "No! Don't say that. I ordered you to go after Aryll."

Link smiled slightly. "Yes… but I think I would have gone anyways," he admitted, opening his eyes to look at Zelda. "That's no way for the Lord Guardian to act."

Zelda shook her head slightly. "You saved your sister- as would any other person. Plus, I turned out fine, so there's no need to discuss it further," she huffed. "Honestly…"

Link chuckled softly. "…If I were less selfish, I'd have offered to resign by now… but this-" he looked around the infirmary, "is a pretty nice perk."

Zelda laughed as well. "Selfish? I'm certain you were thinking of moving Rauru and Aryll in with you as soon as you saw this whole place. You might be annoying, brash, and reckless, but selfish?" She gestured to his arms. "No selfish person would sacrifice so much."

A comfortable silence descended for a few seconds, save for Aryll turning in her sleep. "Link…" Zelda began hesitatingly. "Could I… try something?"

Link looked at her questioningly. "What?"

She huffed, dropping her hands to her lap. "Just… let me see your right hand," she replied, reaching for it.

He raised his arm as much as he could, allowing Zelda to intermingle her fingers with his. It was… comforting. That is, until his hand began to glow and sear in pain. _What the-_

Zelda gritted her teeth, single-minded in her goal. Her hand grew painfully hot against his, and try as he might to pull away, he found his right arm useless. "Zelda! What are-"

As quickly as it had started, the pain and light disappeared, and he jerked his hand away from Zelda's. She slumped a bit, seemingly drained at what had just occurred. "I knew it…"

Link looked at the back of his hand, his eyes widening. The mark of the Triforce had appeared…

And the bottom right triangle was glowing.

"You… you have it," Zelda said fervently, grabbing Link's hand. He flinched, but no pain arrived this time. "I had a hunch… but to really see it!"

"What- you knew?!" Link asked, pulling his hand away. "I didn't even know!" He looked at his hand again as the light slowly faded, along with the imprinted mark. He looked up sharply at Zelda. "And you-!"

"My own piece," she said, holding up her own hand as her mark began to disappear, "sensed something about you from the very moment we met. I thought it was trying to warn me against you, but…" she left the sentence hanging. "Clearly, I was mistaken, which likely meant it sensed another part of the Goddesses' gift." She pointed at his hand. "Bottom right glowing? Triforce of Courage." She pointed to her own. "Bottom left, Triforce of Wisdom."

Link looked at her, his mouth agape. "But… I don't… hold on!" he said, closing his eyes. _This is wayyy too much to happen tonight, of all nights._

"After today's events," Zelda continued, "there wasn't a doubt in my mind. Especially when I saw you rubbing your hand on the way back, before the attack."

Link exhaled slowly, opening his eyes again. "This is… a lot to digest. If I had the Triforce this whole time, why didn't I know? Why do you know about yours?"

"The Triforce of Wisdom is passed down from one Royal family member to another," Zelda began. "So when Mother died, it automatically passed down to me. Power and Courage, on the other hand…

"Well, they go to whoever they feel is most worthy," she continued. "And don't awaken until their wielders embody the virtue… or if forced to awaken."

"Why did you awaken mine?" Link questioned.

Zelda looked baffled. "Because… it's your power," she began, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It's… it's _yours._ Not awakening it would be like… like…" she suddenly started to giggle. "Like not showing a child a better way to do an arithmetic problem!" she said, doubling over in laughter. "Kind of… well, that's how it feels to me," she said, her laughter subsiding.

Despite himself, Link smiled. "It doesn't really make sense, but if you say so," he replied. "But what can I do with this?"

Zelda shrugged. "I do not know. Perhaps basic magic, or perhaps it merely amplifies your abilities. Or perhaps it has already been amplifying your abilities," she said, thinking. "I suppose that is what I shall study when we return, Link." She huffed. "That is, that is what I _should_ do if I have any down time."

Link nodded. "I go where you go, remember? Might be easier with two heads tackling it."

Zelda stood up. "If anything is inside yours, that is," she responded cheekily, moving to the other bed with Aryll. Link groaned, exasperated, as Zelda moved to turn out the lamps individually, finally bringing one over between her and Aryll's shared bed and Link's bed.

"...Link," she began hesitatingly. "Despite... well, despite the terrible events that transpired this evening, I..." she seemed to struggle to find the right words, "I... had fun. With Aryll, with you... It felt... normal." She turned to him. "Do you believe- that is, in the future, do you think-"

"In the future," Link interrupted, "you'll be Queen, and you can do whatever you want," Link grinned. "Just make sure the King isn't so stuck up, right?" he jabbed, enjoying the flash of irritation that crossed Zelda's beautiful features.

"Don't remind me," she groaned, moving next to Aryll. "That's what I'll be up against when we return- and it won't be King- it'll be _Queen Consort!"_

"Ah, how could I have committed such a lapse in protocol?" Link moaned, rolling his eyes playfully. "To think such a boor would hold such a Lordly title!"

He could hear Zelda stifle a giggle. "Oh, I cannot wait to see how all the other Lords react to you, _Lord_ Guardian," she drew out the "Lord" sarcastically. "Although, it would certainly serve them right, those stuck up..." she sniffed.

Link chuckled softly. "You sure you're fine sleeping with Aryll?" Link asked one more time. "Because-"

"Quite fine, Link," Zelda replied readily, carefully drawing a blanket over herself. "Besides, we both know you can barely move right now. If Aryll were to roll on you at night… well, I don't wish to wake up to your pained scream."

"Hey- I would not scream in pain!" Link whispered furiously as Aryll shifted slightly in her sleep. "If anything-"

"Shh!" Zelda said, halting Link mid-sentence. She turned and smirked at him as she shut the lamp so only a sliver of light remained. "Good night, Link."

Like a spell was cast over him, Link's eyes were beginning to close already. "Yeah… sweet dreams, Zelda… Aryll," he whispered. As he fell into deep slumber, the whirlwind of thoughts circling his mind—his new power, Aryll's condition, and finally Zelda herself—ensured his dreams would be anything but peaceful.

* * *

 **A/N: Ah, hello. I am alive! I am perhaps more lazy and more procrastinationazy then ever! Honestly... the more I wrote this chapter, the less I wanted to look at it and write, haha. Well, I hope you, the reader, still have at least some enjoyment at reading this story! Rest assured, _I will finish this..._ eventually. This definitely does not deserve to be a 1+ year story, let alone a 2+ year one like it's about to be. **

**Honestly, thank you to each and every one who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story. Each time I saw a new notification randomly pop up in my Inbox , it inspired me to at least open my story notes and figure out how to progress from there for a bit. They really help, and I'm really grateful for everyone doing that.**

 **I think... that's all I have to say! It is pretty late, so maybe something's slipped my mind in my rambling, but to everyone, once again, THANKS FOR READING, AND I HOPE YOU'RE WILLING TO WAIT FOR ANOTHER UPDATE UNTIL WE FINISH THIS TOGETHER!**


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